A Vacaville police officer responding to a report of two men arguing on Greenwood Drive wound up chasing down a 20-year-old suspect who allegedly reached repeatedly for his waistband before officers found a loaded, unregistered .45-caliber handgun tucked there. Michael Wayne Richardson Jr. now faces multiple felony charges tied to the weapon and to resisting the officer who eventually caught up with him.
According to the Vacaville Police Department, dispatch received a call on Thursday about two men arguing in the 500 block of Greenwood Drive, a residential stretch near Peabody Road within walking distance of the Lucky Supermarket plaza off Alamo Drive. One of the men reportedly brandished a firearm during the dispute before leaving the area in a silver vehicle headed toward Peabody Road, while the other man reportedly fled on foot toward the nearby Lucky Supermarket.
An officer arriving in the neighborhood spotted someone matching the fleeing man's description and ordered him to stop and talk. Instead, police say Richardson ran. As the officer chased him down, Richardson allegedly reached repeatedly toward his waistband with his right hand, prompting the officer to command him to keep his hands visible before finally catching up with him and taking him into custody.
Loaded Handgun Recovered From Waistband
Officers recovered a loaded, unregistered .45-caliber handgun from Richardson during the arrest, the department said. Amid the pursuit, Richardson reportedly told the officer, “You're fast as f*, damn!!” Richardson was booked into Solano County Jail, the county's detention system based roughly ten miles south of Vacaville in Fairfield, according to the Shouse Law Group.
Meanwhile, officers and staff from the department's Real-Time Information Center used city traffic cameras and Flock Safety license plate readers to locate the silver vehicle the other man had driven away from the scene, stopping it near the freeway. Officers confirmed the driver had no firearm on him or inside the vehicle, and it remains unclear whether that driver faces any charges.
Felony Weapon and Resisting Charges
Richardson was charged with multiple felony counts related to possession of a loaded, concealed firearm and to resisting or delaying arrest. Under California Penal Code Section 25400, carrying a concealed, unregistered firearm is generally a misdemeanor but escalates to a felony punishable by up to three years in state prison when the weapon is loaded, per the Shouse Law Group. Separately, willfully resisting or delaying a peace officer under Penal Code Section 148(a)(1) is a misdemeanor punishable by up to a year in county jail and a $1,000 fine, the firm notes, and simply fleeing or ignoring commands can be enough to support that charge.
It is not yet known what specifically triggered the initial argument on Greenwood Drive, nor when Richardson is scheduled to be arraigned in Solano County Superior Court.
Cameras and Community Tips Powering Response
The rapid location of the silver vehicle leaned on the city's Real-Time Information Center, a $4.4 million surveillance hub launched in July 2025 with support from a California Board of State and Community Corrections grant aimed at combating organized retail theft, according to the City of Vacaville. The center connects Flock Safety license plate readers and traffic cameras so dispatchers can feed live intelligence to officers on patrol. Vacaville police described this incident as one that involved community members, dispatchers, RTIC staff, and officers working together.
This isn't the first time the department's camera network has helped pin down an armed suspect. In July 2024, Vacaville police paired their Flock camera system with a California Highway Patrol helicopter to track an armed suspect fleeing at high speed through Solano County. A similar setup also aided officers investigating an I-80 freeway shooting last year.
The technology's growing footprint comes as California lawmakers debate Senate Bill 1013, which would impose statewide rules on automated license plate readers, including a requirement that agencies delete plate data after 30 days unless it's tied to an active investigation, according to CBS 8. California already hosts more of the over 120,000 Flock Safety cameras operating nationwide than any other state, with more than 16,000 units spread across upward of 230 law enforcement agencies statewide.
Despite incidents like this one, Vacaville's overall violent crime rate sits roughly 31% below the national average, with an individual's estimated risk of violent crime calculated at 1 in 352, per crime data compiled by DoorProfit. Even so, the department's own July activity logs showed a month-over-month increase in citizen calls for service, formal reports, arrests, and traffic stops citywide, reflecting a busy summer for patrol officers ahead of this arrest.
