Police: Barrel of loaded pistol spotted in SUV during traffic stop in New Kensington

New Kensington police say a man they pulled over for allegedly running a stop sign had a loaded pistol stuffed between the seat and center console of his vehicle.

Police said Laquinta Dewayne Shuford, 31, did not have a license to carry the gun.

Shuford of the 1700 block of Horne Boulevard in Arnold was charged with a felony count of carrying a firearm without a license along with two misdemeanor drug charges and two traffic citations.

Police released Shuford from custody after his arrest May 30 and charged him by summons. He was arraigned July 24 before Judge Frank J. Pallone Jr., who ordered him detained in the Westmoreland County jail in lieu of a $40,000 cash bond.

A preliminary hearing before Pallone is scheduled for Aug. 10, court records show.

A New Kensington police officer working a traffic enforcement detail near Freeport Road about 2 a.m. pulled over a white Chevy Tahoe after it went through a stop while turning onto McCargo Street, according to a criminal complaint.

Shuford stepped out of his SUV but was ordered to get back inside as an officer approached, the complaint said.

He was then told to get back out of the Tahoe after he started reaching around the interior and the officer smelled marijuana, police said.

Police said Shuford was identified by his Alabama driver’s license and agreed to be searched for weapons before sitting down on the sidewalk and lighting up a cigar, the complaint said.

When the woman riding in the front seat of the SUV got out to speak to an officer, he saw the barrel of a black gun sticking up from between the passenger seat and the center console, the complaint said.

The pistol was loaded with seven rounds in the magazine and one in the chamber, police said.

Shuford told police that he bought the gun from a woman and he did not have a permit to carry it, police said.

Police said they learned the gun was registered to a Pittsburgh man and notified officers at the Zone 2 station in the Hill District.

But Zone 2 officers were tied up with a shooting investigation that morning and were unable to question the owner about the gun, according to the complaint.

The officer who arrested Shuford noted in the complaint that a criminal background check revealed nothing that would have prevented him from owning a gun or getting a concealed carry permit.

Police confiscated marijuana from the center console after Shuford admitted to having it in the SUV and agreeing to let officers search the vehicle, the complaint said.