By Genesis Guzman
SACRAMENTO, CA – After a preliminary hearing this week, Kenney Harris is now scheduled to stand trial here in Sacramento County Superior Court nearly a year after his December 2020 arrest on charges of a concealed firearm, possession of a stolen weapon, and resisting arrest from a police officer.
Apparently, a satchel he was carrying, tinted windows—and the speeding—caught an officer’s eye, according to Detective Lizardo Guzman.
At the preliminary hearing, the detective said he was patrolling the area around Sun Valley apartment complex in the Sacramento area when he witnessed a vehicle pull out of the complex and speed away on Dec. 15, 2020.
He estimated the vehicle was going above the speed limit because Guzman himself was going at the speed limit and the suspect passed him.
Guzman had also noticed that the vehicle’s brake lights were tinted along with the driver’s windows, to a point where he could not see the driver inside. Both are equipment violations of the vehicle code, which prompted him to pull the car over.
Harris’ defense counsel David Foos argued these reasons were not valid enough to pull over the suspect in the car because Guzman never paced the vehicle with the police radar and had merely made an assumption about the car’s speed.
Foos also charged that the alleged vehicle code violation regarding the brake lights and window tints were not in fact a violation, because the brake lights could still be seen as red when turned on and Guzman hadn’t checked if the windows were in fact tinted or maybe just fogged or covered.
After pulling the car over, the detective asked the driver for his license, to which the driver presented an ID instead, which identified him to be Kenney Harris.
Guzman asked again for a valid driver’s license, to which after some opposition Harris told him he had one in his wallet, and while looking for it Guzman had already opened the car door to frisk him.
Guzman had noted Harris was wearing a satchel across his chest when he pulled him over, which made him suspicious of whether Harris was carrying a weapon.
The detective explained to Deputy District Attorney Jordan Pitcher that a new method gang members use to hide and carry weapons are through satchels and fanny packs.
And seeing the defendant wearing a satchel inside his car along with exiting from an apartment complex that is a known gang hang out made Guzman suspicious.
Foos argued that Guzman’s logic would mean that every man carrying a satchel would make him suspicious of a possible concealed weapon. Guzman responded that his previous experience with gang members concealing guns in satchels was also part of his reasoning.
The defense also pointed out that in the Sun Valley apartment complex there were also average law abiding citizens that lived there, not just gang members.
During the pat down search the detective felt a hand gun inside the bag, and when he was taking out the handcuffs to arrest Harris, the suspect twisted away from him and began running away. After pursuing him and calling other officers to the scene Harris surrendered, but his satchel was no longer with him.
Guzman concluded that Harris had discarded it in the moment where he lost sight of him during the pursuit. Guzman sent out officers to search for the satchel and he found it in the area where he had lost sight of him, and inside was a loaded gun.
Judge Emily Vasquez questioned why the defendant would be wearing a satchel inside his car under his seat belt and the officer’s suspicions were valid to lead to a frisk. The gun was found to not have belonged to Harris and the original owner also attested to not having known Harris or having sold it to him.
Vasquez concluded that she believed Harris to be guilty and must stand trial to answer to all charges.
