Men accused of having loaded guns outside Ypsilanti court were there for traffic ticket

However, Detective Sgt. Thomas Eberts said that Antonio Isaiah Thomas and Terrance Fletcher are now being held in the Washtenaw County Jail on $50,000 cash bonds after they were arrested Monday. Thomas, 22, and Fletcher, 24, were in the area to see a magistrate about a traffic ticket, Eberts said.

“Apparently, they carry guns for protection,” he said. “They weren’t looking for any problems, according to them.”

Lt. Craig Annas spotted the two men next to their motorcycles in the court’s parking lot Monday morning, police said. Fletcher is accused of pulling a handgun — later discovered to be a loaded .45-caliber semi-automatic — out of a compartment in his motorcycle and placing it in his waistband.

Annas called patrol officers to the area and said Fletcher, upon seeing police, ran away, throwing the handgun away. He was caught a short time later and placed under arrest, police said.

Thomas also allegedly attempted to leave the area on foot, walking toward the nearby police station. Police said they confronted him and arrested him. They said they found a 9-mm semi-automatic handgun in his waistband.

Fletcher is charged with carrying a concealed weapon, carrying a weapon with unlawful intent, a felony firearms charge, being in possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony and assaulting, resisting or obstructing a police officer.

Thomas faces charges of carrying a concealed weapon, carrying a weapon with unlawful intent, a felony firearms charge and assaulting, resisting or obstructing a police officer.

The men were arraigned Tuesday afternoon. The date of their preliminary examination was not immediately known Tuesday.