Traffic stop yields illegal narcotics, firearm

A deputy's traffic stop in Wilbur March 8 led to the seizure of narcotics, a gun and arrests.

Deputy Kurt Cuzzetto made a traffic stop at Main and Bell Street in Wilbur after running a vehicle's registration and learning that the registered owner's license was suspended, Sheriff Wade W. Magers reported.

The operator did not have a driver's license. When the driver got out of the 2002 Honda Accord, Deputy Cuzzetto observed what appeared to be drug paraphernalia, Magers said.

Of the three occupants in the Honda, one passenger advised Cuzzetto that she had a warrant for her arrest. Another was under Department of Corrections supervision with conditions of release that don't allow possessing weapons or illegal narcotics.

As one of the subjects exited the vehicle, Cuzzetto saw a pistol lying on the backseat floorboard, pointing towards the front seat. Since all three occupants were convicted felons and therefore cannot possess a firearm, the vehicle was seized and towed. The sheriff's office then applied for a search warrant to recover the firearm, Magers reported.

A search warrant was authorized, and after a search of the vehicle Cuzzetto and Sgt. Gabe Gants recovered a Ruger .380, methamphetamine, cocaine, oxycodone pills, baggies, pipes, and digital scales, Magers said.

During the search, what is believed to be stolen property was observed, and an additional search warrant has been applied for, the sheriff reported.

Cuzzetto recommended to the Lincoln County Prosecutor's Office charges on all three subjects of unlawful possession of a firearm and possession of methamphetamine and cocaine with intent to deliver. The subjects include Warren McCrea, of Omak, and Madison Louie and Sarah Redstar, of Nespelem, Sheriff Magers said.

"Deputy Cuzzetto did an outstanding job, and because of his proactive investigation not only was an illegally possessed weapon taken off the street, as well as illegal narcotics, but stolen property may also be recovered because of the investigation," Magers said.