A 22-year-old Hesperia man was arrested after deputies say a traffic stop near Hesperia Road and Mojave Street led them to a stolen handgun, three unserialized firearms, ammunition and suspected narcotics. Investigators identified the driver as Julio Pineda, whom authorities described as a known criminal street gang member, according to a sheriff's statement.
The stop was conducted on October 8 by the Hesperia Gang Investigations Team, as reported by VVNG. Investigators recovered a stolen Glock 48 pistol and THC products from Pineda's vehicle during the stop, per the sheriff's statement. At the time of the arrest, Pineda had already been released on his own recognizance in connection with a previous weapons violation, authorities said.
Following the roadside recovery, investigators obtained a search warrant for Pineda's residence on Bodart Street in Hesperia. There, they located three unserialized Polymer80 pistols, commonly referred to as ghost guns, along with ammunition, large-capacity magazines and suspected psilocybin mushrooms, the outlet's report states. Authorities did not specify the quantities of narcotics recovered or provide additional details about the stolen handgun.
Charges Tied to Firearms, Drugs and Stolen Property
Pineda was booked into the High Desert Detention Center in Adelanto, which opened in January 2006 and provides housing for more than 2,100 inmates, according to the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department. He faces suspicion of multiple offenses, including possessing a firearm while armed with controlled substances under Health and Safety Code 11370.1, failing to relinquish firearms under Penal Code 29810, possessing controlled substances for sale under Health and Safety Code 11351, and possessing stolen property under Penal Code 496.
The armed-while-in-possession charge carries real weight under state law. Per Justia, Health and Safety Code 11370.1 makes it a felony to possess specified controlled substances while armed with a loaded, operable firearm, carrying two to four years in state prison and disqualifying defendants from drug diversion programs — regardless of whether the weapon was ever brandished or fired.
The relinquishment charge stems from a separate legal mandate. Penal Code 29810 requires anyone convicted of a qualifying crime to surrender all firearms within 48 hours if out of custody, or 14 days if incarcerated, using a California Department of Justice form, according to FindLaw.
Ghost Guns Keep Surfacing in High Desert Sweeps
The three Polymer80 pistols recovered from Pineda's home fit a pattern regulators have been fighting for years. In 2023, Polymer80 itself entered a $5 million settlement with the City of Los Angeles that permanently barred the company from selling unserialized kits or assisting in ghost gun assembly in California, a case Everytown Law says cited the weapons' widespread recovery at Southern California crime scenes.
Statewide, the California Department of Justice runs the Armed Prohibited Persons System, which tracked 23,451 people in 2023 who had legally purchased firearms but later became disqualified from owning them, according to the Giffords Law Center.
Hoodline reported Sunday, October 11, 2026, on a separate Victorville road-rage investigation. An October 8 search of a Showhorse Lane residence followed an October 4 incident on La Mesa Road.
