Date: 1-28-2022

Location: 700 Block of S. Orchard Ave.

Suspect: 16-Year-Old Male Juvenile of Ukiah

Violations: 25850(c)(6) PC – Possession of an Unregistered Loaded Firearm – (Felony)

       32310(a) PC – Possession of High-Capacity Magazine – (Felony)

       25400(a)(1) PC – Possession of a Concealed Firearm in a Vehicle – (Felony)

       29650 PC – Minor in Possession of Live Ammunition – (Misdemeanor)

       29610(a) PC – Minor in Possession of a Handgun – (Misdemeanor)

                  29180(c) PC – Possession of an Un-Serialized Firearm (Ghost Gun) - (Misdemeanor)

                 135 PC – Concealing Evidence - (Misdemeanor)

On 1-28-2022 at approximately 2152 hours, a Ukiah Police Officer was conducting uniformed patrol in the area of E. Gobbi St. and S. Orchard Ave. when he observed a motor vehicle with an equipment violation. A traffic stop was conducted on the vehicle where five occupants were subsequently contacted. When the UPD officer approached the vehicle, he observed the front seat passenger of the vehicle open the door slightly, and drop an unknown item onto the ground. An arriving cover officer was alerted to this fact and quickly discovered what appeared to be a firearm directly under the passenger door of the vehicle.

For officer safety concerns, the UPD officers drew their department issued firearms and moved to positions of safety. After additional cover officers from UPD, CHP, and MCSO arrived on scene, the subjects were called out of the vehicle one at a time during a high-risk traffic stop.

After all the vehicle occupants were detained, the vehicle was searched and deemed safe. The firearm was secured and it was discovered that the handgun was a 9mm “P80” Glock style semi-automatic pistol. These types of firearms are unlawfully manufactured and do not bear serial numbers and are often referred to as “ghost guns”. The firearm was found to have an unlawfully possessed high capacity magazine that had 6 rounds of live 9mm ammunition loaded into the magazine which was located inserted into the magazine well of the firearm.

After concluding the investigation on scene, it was determined that the front seat passenger had been the possessor of the firearm and was discovered to be 16 years of age. He was arrested for the above listed charges and was transported to the Mendocino Juvenile Hall after being medically cleared for incarceration per COVID-19 protocol.

The Ukiah Police Department would like to thank the Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office and the California Highway Patrol with their assistance in this matter.

As always, our mission at UPD is to make Ukiah as safe a place as possible. If you would like to know more about crime in your neighborhood, you can sign up for telephone, cell phone, and email notifications by clicking the Nixle button on our website; www.ukiahpolice.com