Detroit man found with Glock switch, charged with possessing machine gun

DETROIT (FOX 2) - Federal authorities have charged a Detroit man with possession of a machine gun after he was found carrying a gun that had a Glock switch in place – making the gun fire rapidly without reloading.

Aion Overman was arrested last week as police pulled up on a car that was parked on the sidewalk near Grand River on the city's west side on June 22. According to th criminal complaint, police patrolling the area spotted a Dodge Durango parked on the sidewalk and pulled up to it to investigate.

When officers got out of the scout car, Overman got out of the front passenger seat and ran off, ignoring commands to stop.

The driver, identified only as ‘J.A.’ in the complaint, stayed in the car but was reaching into the back of the SUV and ignored police commands. He was ultimately handcuffed to the steering wheel and police found two handguns in the back passenger seat of the car.

Overman was arrested after a brief chase and was in the back of the scout car with handcuffs. He was able to open the back door and run off – but was quickly caught and arrested again.

What is a Glock Switch? How a small device turns handguns into machine guns

In the SUV, one of the two guns was a Glock equipped with a blue machine gun conversion device – more commonly known as a Glock switch. The gun did not have a magazine in it when police found the weapon.

As police investigated, they reviewed an Instagram story from just a few hours after his arrest. Another user posted a story at 3 a.m. on June 23, showing Overman in the front seat wearing the same clothes he was wearing when he was arrested. It was tagged at 1:43 p.m. and showed Overman holding one gun with the Glock tucked into his waistband.

Police also reviewed Overman's Instagram account, which showed him with several guns – three of which had Glock switches on them. He also had a large amount of cash and police said he was wanted for a home invasion recently in the city.

Overman is facing federal charges of illegal possession of a machine gun.

What is a Glock Switch?

A Glock Switch snaps on to the back of a Glock to prevent the gun from firing at a semi-automatic rate to fully automatic.

Randall Mullins is the manager of Top Gun in Taylor explained last summer that a Glock isn't meant to fire at such a rate as he showed us how the Glock is made.

"It has a standard backplate…and a sear on the inside of the gun, which stops the gun from firing more than one round at a time as the trigger is pulled," Mullins said.

By putting the little device on top of the gun and opening the mechanism up, it turns the weapon into a machine gun.