DELTONA -- The Volusia County Sheriff's Office is seeking dismissal of three of the criminal charges against Pine Ridge High School teacher Stephen Michael Belcher, who was arrested Thursday after deputies found two rifles and ammunition in his truck in the school parking lot.
The arrest was made after school had let out for the day. Belcher, who resides in Port Orange, pled no contest to aggravated assault in January 2008 and was placed on probation for two years, during which time he's prohibited from possessing firearms.
Deputies went to the school on Thursday to check on Belcher's well-being after receiving a report that he might have a gun on him, Sheriff's spokesman Gary Davidson said. After discovering the weapons and ammunition in his truck, deputies arrested Belcher for a probation violation, one count of possession of a firearm on school property, two counts of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon and one count of possession of ammunition by a convicted felon, Davidson said.
Following Belcher's no contest plea in 2008, the judge withheld adjudication on the charge. After reviewing the case on Friday, theSheriff's Office concluded that because adjudication was withheld, Belcher is not considered a convicted felon and therefore the charges of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon and possession of ammunition by a convicted felon weren't legally valid.
Accordingly, the Sheriff's Office has contacted the State Attorney's Office and requested that those charges be dropped, Davidson said. The decision doesn't affect the two remaining criminal charges against Belcher -- possession of a firearm on school property and violation of probation, the spokesman added.