In the early hours of May 11, the routine patrol of Santa Rosa street took a turn when a vehicle was pulled over for a minor traffic offense. Santa Rosa police report that the stop on Santa Rosa Avenue near Yolanda Avenue led to a much more significant discovery—a loaded gun hidden in a satchel in the car.
The vehicle stopped at around 2:55 a.m. and contained several passengers, including 30-year-old Mateo Felipe Lopez. An officer who carried out a search of the car, based on probable cause, found a 10 mm Glock handgun ensconced within a satchel that Lopez had been holding prior to the search. The routine traffic stop escalated into a weapons charge situation in a blink.
Following the discovery, Lopez was arrested and faced charges specifically outlined by local law enforcement - "25400(a)(1) PC – Concealed Firearm in a Vehicle" and "25850(c)(6) PC – Possession of an Unregistered Firearm," as per the Santa Rosa Police Department's official statement.
The incident, now case number 24-5664, has led to Lopez's booking into Sonoma County Jail. A simple traffic violation, thus, peeled back the curtain on potential criminal activity that might have remained undiscovered if not for an officer's watchful eye in the wee hours. Contact for additional information on the case has been directed to Sgt. McAllister, who is available at (707) 543-3600.
