Man draws prison on illegal gun charge
NORRISTOWN >> A Norristown man is on his way to a state prison on charges he illegally possessed a gun, a crime uncovered during a traffic stop in Limerick.
Tyron Dennis Brunson, 29, of the 700 block of Haws Avenue, was sentenced in Montgomery County Court to 4-to-8years in a state correctional facility after he pleaded guilty to a felony charge of persons not to possess a firearm in connection with a March 2018 incident in Limerick.
Judge Richard P. Haaz, who accepted a plea agreement in the matter, ordered Brunson to forfeit all firearms to county detectives.
An investigation began about 9:43 a.m. March 13, 2018, when state police from Skippack who were on routine patrol on westbound Route 422 observed a Nissan Altima traveling at a high rate of speed, and bearing “heavy window tint on the front windows,” just east of the Sanatoga exit, according to a criminal complaint.
Troopers clocked the Altima at traveling 67 mph in an area posted 55 mph. Police followed the vehicle as it exited Route 422 at Sanatoga and then traveled east on West Ridge Pike into Limerick. Police stopped the vehicle as it turned onto Sheridan Lane in Limerick.
Police advised the operator that he was stopped for alleged speeding and dark window tint and noticed Brunson, the front seat passenger, was not wearing a seatbelt, according to the arrest affidavit. Brunson initially gave police incomplete identification information, police alleged.
The driver and owner of the vehicle subsequently gave police permission to search the vehicle.
During the consent search, police discovered a black Bersa .380-caliber pistol on the floor between the passenger seat and the passenger door, according to the criminal complaint filed by state police Trooper Brian Kedra.
“The firearm was found to be loaded with 8 rounds in the magazine and 1 round in the chamber,” Kedra alleged, adding that in the passenger door compartment authorities discovered three small glassine bags, each containing “suspected crack cocaine rocks,” and another glassine bag containing about 1.5 grams of suspected cocaine.
When he was questioned by troopers, Brunson assumed ownership of the firearm and the narcotics found in the passenger door compartment, according to the arrest affidavit.
A records check determined Brunson had a previous conviction for a crime in Virginia that prohibited him from possessing a firearm, troopers alleged in the criminal complaint. Brunson, authorities alleged, also didn’t have a valid concealed carry permit.
As part of the plea agreement, charges of possessing controlled substances and providing false identification to law enforcement authorities were dismissed against Brunson.