Family of 3 charged after officer hurt by gunfire

Police: Man struggled with 4 officers in pawn shop, discharged firearm

Jacksonville Sheriff's Office booking photos of Edward, Sherry and Teal Garvin

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – A family of three was behind a string of residential burglaries and pawnings of more than 90 items in a short period of time, which led to their arrests after gunfire that injured an officer Wednesday afternoon, according to the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office.

Four officers following up on the burglaries were notified by Big Cash Pawn shop on Beach Boulevard on the Southside about 2:30 p.m. that the suspects -- Edward Garvin, 46, and his wife, Sherry, 41 -- were in the store, Chief of Investigators Annie Smith said at a news conference Thursday morning.

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Smith said the officers were aware Garvin could possibly be armed and had an outstanding warrant for his arrest. She said when they tried to take him into custody, he struggled with the officers and pulled out a gun.

Smith said it took all four officers to take Garvin to the ground, and during the struggle as police were trying to get the gun away from him, Garvin fired one shot that struck the ground and ricocheted, injuring Officer J.C. Prentice. Prentice, a six-and-a-half-year veteran of the Sheriff's Office, suffered lacerations to his right forearm. He had an X-ray to see if he had any bullet fragments in his arm, but none were found.

"Fortunately, he was not seriously injured," Smith said. "Very easily could have gone much worse for the officers involved and for the citizens that were inside the pawn shop at the time."

Smith said other officers were bruised during the struggle.

She said Garvin was carrying a 9mm black Beretta (pictured, right) that had nine rounds in the magazine and one spent shell casing.

"He is a convicted felon and had no business carrying a firearm at all," Smith said.

A gun was stolen in one of the residential burglaries, and on Wednesday, Sherry Garvin was trying to get a gun back that she had previously pawned at the shop, Smith said.

"There are potentially three firearms involved with these three individuals," Smith said.

Edward Garvin is charged with six counts of attempted murder, six counts of aggravated battery on a law enforcement officer and six counts of resisting arrest with violence. He is also charged with burglary and dealing in stolen property. Garvin had a warrant for his arrest for failure to appear on a felony introduction of contraband into a detention facility.

Sherry Garvin is charged with burglary and dealing in stolen property.

The couple's daughter, 19-year-old Teal Garvin, is charged with burglary and dealing in stolen property. She also had an outstanding warrant for driver's license-related charges.

Police found that the suspects had pawned more than 90 items -- mostly jewelry -- in a short period of time. The items were traced back to the burglaries.

"These guys were property crimes (officers), which sometimes the perception is that, you know, it's just property crimes, they're not dangerous criminals," Smith said. "These individuals obviously had things on their mind. They had firearms, and Mr. Garvin was not afraid to use his firearm yesterday, even when confronted by four police officers."