Police find stolen firearm in traffic stop

West Hartford officers pulled over vehicle with excessive window tinting

WEST HARTFORD — When West Hartford police conducted a traffic stop on a car with overly tinted windows, they ended up discovering marijuana and a stolen firearm in the driver’s possession.

A police officer on Dec. 8 stopped Chris Gonzalez, a 25-year-old Hartford man, when the officer noticed that Gonzalez’s car windows were excessively tinted, the officer wrote in his report.

While talking with Gonzalez, the officer noticed that the vehicle smelled like marijuana, he wrote.

Gonzalez initially told the officer that there was nothing illegal in the vehicle. But when the initial officer and a backup officer said they’d be searching Gonzalez because of the marijuana smell, Gonzalez resisted.

The two officers attempted to “escort” Gonzalez around his car, but the man “began to tense up” and repeatedly said that he needed to call his lawyer, police said.

Police said that Gonzalez then told the officers that he had weed with him, and then added, “I have a weapon on me!”

One of the officers pinned Gonzalez against his car, and took a revolver out of Gonzalez’s waistband. The gun was loaded with five bullets, police said.

After taking the gun from Gonzalez, officers then searched the man and his vehicle, turning up THC vape cartridges and baggies of marijuana.

Police took Gonzalez back to the police department, where Gonzalez seemed to calm down, police said.

From the gun’s serial number, police found that the owner of the firearm had reported it stolen in early 2018. Gonzalez told police that he bought the gun “on the streets” several months ago, and he knew it was stolen when he bought it.

Police charged Gonzalez with stealing a firearm, carrying a pistol without a permit, illegal possession of a weapon in a motor vehicle and numerous motor vehicle and drug offenses. Gonzalez is being held at Hartford Correctional Center in lieu of $500,000 bond and is next scheduled to appear in Hartford Superior Court on Jan. 14.

Online court documents show that Gonzalez is also facing additional weapons and drugs charges from a June arrest in East Hartford.