A routine traffic stop in Petaluma became an arrest for firearm possession last Saturday. Petaluma Police Officers stopped a car on the 5300 block of Old Redwood Hwy for cruising without a front license plate, only to discover something more concerning inside the vehicle, reports the Petaluma Police Department.
Andy Pacheco Cruz, the 21-year-old driver, gave officers consent to search his car. During the inspection, officers found a loaded handgun stashed underneath the front passenger seat. The gun, a .45 caliber Glock semi-automatic, was legally registered to Pacheco Cruz but was nonetheless unsecured and loaded, a violation of state law.
Pacheco Cruz was subsequently arrested and booked into the Sonoma County Jail. His charge: possession of a concealed handgun. The Petaluma Police used this incident to remind the public of California's strict laws regarding the transport of firearms in vehicles: "Any handgun that is transported in a vehicle must be unloaded and secured in the vehicle’s trunk or in a locked container," the Petaluma Police Department noted. Moreover, alongside being unloaded, this also means that ammunition must be kept separate from the firearm itself.
