By Mengyu Yang
WOODLAND – It all started about two weeks ago, when two cars—a blue Toyota Prius and a Chevrolet—blocked the entire driveway in front of the Davis Art Center.
That wasn’t the real problem, according to testimony here in Yolo County Superior Court late last week. According to a witness, the real problem was that that a passenger from the Toyota got out of the car and pointed a gun at the Chevrolet.
The witness described the person as an 18-year-old male, around 5’4’’ tall, skinny built, with black hair and wearing a white shirt, later identified as the defendant, Jeremy Nguyen.
Shortly after, both cars dashed off the scene. However, it remained unclear whether this person jumped out from a back passenger seat or from the front passenger seat.
Based on the result of license plate search on the blue Toyota, another group of police officers arrived at a residence, where they happened to witness the blue Toyota dashing back. Sergeant McCoy ordered the car to stop, and testified that she first ordered the driver to get out of the car and a pat down search was administered. The driver was a 17-year-old male.
McCoy then ordered the passenger in the back seat to get out.
As indicated, Sergeant McCoy first ordered the driver get out of the car, then the back seat passenger. Pat down searches were administered. The two persons turned out to be 17 years old and 15 years old respectively. The driver was arrested for driving without a license.
Sergeant McCoy then searched the car after she ordered the defendant, who was sitting in the rear passenger seat, out of the car. She found two handguns under the front passenger seat. One of them was a 40 caliber pistol with no serial number and no registration, the other a Smith revolver with the serial number scratched out. Both of the guns were loaded.
Sergeant McCoy learned that the defendant was 20 years old upon his own admission, and couldn’t recall whether any of the three persons matched the description from the witness in front of Davis Art Center.
It was stipulated that the defendant had a juvenile charge that would prevent him from possessing any firearm.
The defendant was charged with three felony counts, including carrying a concealed firearm in vehicle; possessing a firearm with previous conviction qualifying juvenile felony; carrying a loaded concealable firearm when not the registered owner; and two misdemeanor counts—contributing to the delinquency of a minor and carrying a loaded firearm in public space.
The judge found evidence sufficient for all five counts. The case was set for trial.
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Ages 15, 17 and 20 with untraceable guns, brandishing a gun in a parking lot. Crazy!