Two Fairfield residents found themselves on the wrong side of the law Monday evening when Santa Rosa cops nabbed them with a hidden gun and drugs during a traffic stop, authorities said. The pair, Christina Lopez and Leroy King, were cruising down Mission Boulevard when their ride got pulled over near Quigg Drive for a vehicle violation, according to the Santa Rosa Police.
An officer who conducted the stop around 6:18 p.m. got a whiff of trouble after learning the male passenger, King, had a handful of warrants awaiting him in Solano County. The woman behind the wheel was on probation in Sonoma County. The tension in the air was tangible as the cop began to dig deeper. The cop slapped cuffs on King for his warrants and kept the driver under wraps while a search of the SUV revealed an unloaded pistol cozying up in the glove box. The bust didn't end there as the female passenger, Lopez, later coughed up a stash of suspected methamphetamine while getting booked at the clink.
Lopez, 47, is now facing a slew of charges that include possession of a concealed firearm in a vehicle, bringing contraband into jail, and having and peddling controlled substances, according to a Facebook post by the Santa Rosa Police Department. Her acquaintance, a 46-year-old King, isn't getting off easy either. He was charged with firearm possession and is confronting the music for his outstanding arrest warrants.
The case, which is now part of Santa Rosa police file 24-3222, underscores the ceaseless grind of officers patrolling the streets of California to keep unsuspecting citizens out of harm's way. While the accused have yet to have their day in court, the charges leveled against them paint a stern picture of criminal justice intersecting with contraband control at the most basic level of law enforcement.
