K9 officer assisted with arrest in Santa Rosa

K9 Officer Ghost (Photo courtesy of Santa Rosa Police Department)

Posted: Apr 1, 2023 / 08:01 PM PDT

Updated: Apr 1, 2023 / 08:01 PM PDT

SANTA ROSA, Calif. (BCN) — A K9 officer assisted in the Friday arrest of a 31-year-old Santa Rosa man on suspicion of possessing a “ghost gun” and suspected cocaine, police said.

The case began when Santa Rosa special enforcement officers pulled the man over on a traffic enforcement stop at Todd Road and Moorland Avenue around 10:15 p.m., according to police.

The officers believed the man to be a gang member, police said. A K9 officer aptly named “Ghost” and his handler were in the area and helped with the traffic stop.

“Ghost,” who has received specialized training in the detection of firearms, did what’s known as an open-air sniff, and detected possible contraband in the vehicle, according to police.

The officers found a loaded, unregistered polymer 80 handgun, also known as a “ghost gun,” in the vehicle’s center console, police said. They also allegedly found several grams of a substance the officers suspected to be cocaine.

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The man was arrested and booked into the Sonoma County Jail on suspicion of offenses including possessing an unregistered firearm and possessing narcotics while armed.

Ghost guns are kits and privately made firearms that are untraceable by design, lacking serial numbers and other identifying markings, according to the Center for Gun Violence Solutions.