A failure to stop at a stop sign in San Mateo early Friday morning turned into a major weapons bust, after officers say they found a loaded pistol stolen out of Utah, an unregistered AR-15-style rifle, and a 65-round drum magazine during the stop. Police arrested 25-year-old East Palo Alto resident Richard Makoni and booked him into San Mateo County Jail on a string of firearms and stolen-property charges.
According to the San Mateo Police Department, an officer pulled Makoni over near S. Norfolk Street and Shoreview Avenue after watching him blow through a stop sign. Makoni was the driver and sole occupant of the vehicle, police said. As the Mercury News reports, the stop happened around 1:26 a.m. Friday.
During what police described as a consensual search of Makoni, officers found a .40-caliber pistol loaded with a magazine tucked in his pants pocket. A records check determined that pistol had been reported stolen in Utah, per the same department account. A subsequent probable-cause search of Makoni's vehicle turned up an unserialized, privately manufactured AR-15-style rifle in the trunk, loaded with a magazine and a .223-caliber round already chambered.
Drum Magazine Found in Backpack
Officers also located a loaded 65-round, large-capacity drum magazine inside a backpack during the search, according to the department's account. The combination of an untraceable rifle, a stolen handgun, and high-capacity ammunition prompted police to book Makoni on an extensive list of charges.
Those charges include carrying a concealed firearm in a vehicle, carrying a concealed firearm on his person, illegal possession of an assault weapon, carrying a loaded firearm under specific circumstances, possession of a loaded and concealed firearm, possession of stolen property, and possession of an unserialized firearm. Police cited the relevant code sections as 25400(a)(1) PC, 25400(a)(2) PC, 30605(a) PC, 25850(a) PC, 25400(c)(6) PC, 496(a) PC, and 23920(b) PC.
Not the First Ghost Gun Found in San Mateo
This isn't the first time San Mateo police have pulled an unregistered rifle off the road after a traffic stop. In March 2022, officers found an unregistered, loaded AR-15 containing 38 rounds during a separate traffic stop, and that driver was also arrested on multiple firearm charges, according to a report from Patch. The same report notes San Mateo recorded 16 ghost gun recoveries in 2021, a 166% jump from 2019, and that the San Mateo County Sheriff's Office seized 30 illegally held firearms in a joint operation in January 2022. In nearby South San Francisco, more than a fourth of the 46 firearms recovered in 2021 were ghost guns, Sgt. Sean Curmi told The Almanac at the time.
Following Friday's arrest, San Mateo police reiterated their standard appeal to the public, encouraging community members to remain vigilant and report crimes or suspicious activity. The department asked anyone who sees suspicious persons, vehicles, or activity to call SMPD, repeating its familiar refrain: see something, say something.
