Smithfield man charged with possessing firearm as felon

Published 1:58 pm Sunday, February 2, 2025

A Smithfield man previously convicted of multiple felonies has been charged with illegally possessing a firearm.

At approximately 8:15 a.m. on Feb. 2, multiple Smithfield Police units descended on Battery Park Road near the town water tower to search the home of 41-year-old Ernest Davis, where they say they found the handgun he’s accused of having brandished in January.

Davis was arrested and taken to the Western Tidewater Regional Jail, where he’s being held without bond. According to Smithfield Police Lt. William Wooley, Davis faces two counts of possessing a firearm by a convicted felon, as well as one count of brandishing and one count of assault and obstruction of justice.

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According to court records, Davis’s past felony convictions include eluding police and possessing a sawed-off shotgun in 2003, a guilty plea in 2019 as an accessory to a drug sale, and a guilty plea in 2021 to possessing a gun as a nonviolent felon.

Editor’s note: This story was updated at 10:25 a.m. on Feb. 3 with additional details.