Blowing a traffic signal proved costly for an Ozone Park man after cops pulled him over and found that he had a loaded gun and various narcotics, police reported.
Law enforcement sources said that Brandon Rodriguez, 22, was operating a vehicle that ignored a traffic signal at the corner of Rockaway Boulevard and 90th Street in Ozone Park at 2:50 p.m. on March 27.
Officers from the 102nd Precinct Anti-Crime Unit saw the traffic infraction and pulled Rodriguez’s vehicle over. Upon approaching, police said, the officers saw what appeared to be a controlled substance in plain sight next to Rodriguez.
This led to further investigation, during which police found a loaded Sig Sauer firearm along with large quantities of marijuana and various amounts of other drugs including heroin, ecstasy and klonopin, a prescription drug used to treat anxiety disorder.
Rodriguez was taken into custody on charges of criminal possession of a weapon, criminal possession of a controlled substance, criminal possession of marijuana and criminal possession of drug paraphernalia.
Court records indicated that Rodriguez was released on $5,000 bond following his March 28 arraignment. He is due back in court on April 19.
Captain Courtney Nilan, the 102nd Precinct’s commanding officer, took to Twitter to praise the officers for the bust.
Great work by our Anti-Crime Officers! They removed an illegal handgun & contrabands off our streets. #OneLessGun pic.twitter.com/VWmm39UmSj
— NYPD 102nd Precinct (@NYPD102Pct) March 28, 2018
