Registered sex offender arrested at DeSoto sheriff's office on warrant he didn't know was active

Deputies say a registered sexual offender unknowingly saved them a search when he arrived at the DeSoto County Sheriff's Office while a warrant for his arrest was active.

On May 29, at approximately 3:44 a.m., Michael Lee Burnsed, 39, was sitting in the sheriff's office lobby and refused to identify himself to dispatchers, according to DCSO.

When deputies spoke with Burnsed, he reportedly asked, "Why are y'all looking for me?" DCSO said Burnsed mentioned that he was a registered sex offender and wondered if that had something to do with it.

Burnsed was convicted in 2019 in Florida for lewd/lascivious conduct with a victim under 16 years old by an offender 18 years or older.

DCSO's Criminal Investigative Division recently obtained a felony arrest warrant for Burnsed for failure to comply with sexual offender registration requirements, according to the sheriff's office.

Dispatchers then confirmed the warrant was active and had not been served yet. According to DCSO, a deputy told Burnsed to stand up so he could be placed under arrest, but Burnsed reached into his pocket instead.

Burnsed surrendered after seeing deputies draw their Tasers and dropped a sharp metal file from his hand, DCSO said.

Burnsed is facing two counts of aggravated assault on a law enforcement officer, resisting an officer without violence, and a felony warrant for failure to comply with sexual offender registration requirements (failing to report a transient address).

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