Falls police find loaded semi-automatic handgun during traffic stop
Jun. 17—Falls police arrested a Buffalo man early Thursday morning after finding a gun and open bottle of liquor in his vehicle during a traffic stop.
Shortly after midnight, the Falls officers, who were part of a saturation patrol in the city, spotted a '12 Chevy Traverse going the wrong way down the 1500 block of Ashland Avenue, a one-way street. The SUV was stopped on 17th Street and officers noted that the driver pulled over and immediately put his hands out of the window.
Approaching the vehicle, officers said they could see a tan semi-automatic handgun laying on the backseat through the tinted window. The driver, identified as Damon E. McCloud, 45, 213 Person St., Buffalo, said the gun was real and he been driving around with it for several days, looking to turn it in to police. The firearm had an 18-round magazine with 10 live rounds.
McCloud also noted that he was on probation in Alabama.
Officers also found an open bottle of Hennessy in the front cup holder and said McCloud smelled of liquor. During booking, McCloud failed field sobriety tests but refused to submit to a breath test.
McCloud was charged with second-degree criminal possession of a weapon, second-degree aggravated unlicensed operation, DWI, driving without a license, refusal to take a breath test and driving the wrong way down a one-way street.
