Chester County man with ‘ghost gun’ arrested

Driver in crash reportedly told trooper he didn’t know he needed a permit, state police say

A Chester County man is in Berks County Prison facing felony firearms charges after state police said he had a “ghost gun” after a single-vehicle crash Sunday afternoon in Union Township, officials said.

Jonathan R. Jackson, 44, of Phoenixville was uninjured in the crash about 2:30 p.m. in the 500 block of Black Matt Road that sheared a utility pole and knocked over a mailbox, troopers at the Reading station said.

According to the probable cause affidavit:

While Trooper Erik Sinwich was responding to the crash, he was alerted by dispatchers that an ambulance crew on the scene advised that a firearm was in the car.

When Sinwich arrived, he asked Jackson what happened. Jackson said the car veered off the road onto the grass. He said he couldn’t bring it back onto the road before it struck the pole and mailbox. He admitted he wasn’t wearing a seat belt and that his state inspection had expired.

The trunk of the car was open, and the trooper saw a loaded ammunition magazine for a pistol. Sinwich didn’t see a gun in the car, but learned from others at the scene that Jackson had it concealed on himself.

Sinwich asked Jackson if he had a firearm. Jackson said he did and that he had removed it from the car because emergency workers were in and around the vehicle.

The trooper took the gun from Jackson for safety reasons and because Jackson didn’t notify him that he was armed. The trooper told Jackson that he was going to check the firearm on a law enforcement database to see if it was stolen or linked to a crime.

Jackson told him that he wouldn’t find any information because the gun did not have a serial number. He said it was a ghost gun that he purchased legally at a gun show.

Sinwich asked Jackson if he had a permit to carry a concealed firearm. Jackson said he didn’t know he needed a permit. The trooper told him that a permit is needed because it is a complete, fully functional firearm.

Sinwich returned to his patrol vehicle to check for a criminal history and learned Jackson has

prior convictions that prohibit him from possessing a firearm.

He arrested Jackson on charges of possessing a weapon while prohibited, carrying a concealed firearm without a license, operating a vehicle without a valid license, failure to wear seat belts and related counts.

Jackson was jailed in lieu of $125,000 bail to await a hearing following arraignment before District Judge Tonya A. Butler in Reading Central Court.

On April 29, Gov. Tom Wolf and State Police Commissioner Col. Robert Evanchick announced they were moving ahead with implementing regulations at the state level to reign in the proliferation of ghost guns, which are increasingly turning up at crime scenes. The announcement came three weeks after President Joe Biden announced his administration’s new final rule on ghost guns at the federal level.

The state regulation mirrors the federal regulation in ensuring that partially manufactured frames and receivers require a background check at the point of sale, it also requires dealers and gunsmiths in the state to serialize and inventory any unregistered firearms that come into their business.

The new state and federal regulations address the so-called gun show loophole. Authorities say many of the ghost guns on the street were purchased at gun shows.