OFF THE WIRE
BY: Alex Bridges
Source: nvdaily.com
Pistol in plain sight leads to search of Shawneeland resident's vehicle
WINCHESTER -- Authorities found eight guns in a vehicle owned by a Frederick County man linked to a motorcycle gang and charged with firearms offenses in Maryland.
Stephen F. Torres, 52, of 302 BobCat Trail, Shawneeland, is charged in Prince Georges County, Md., Circuit Court with firearm-related offenses, according to the state's online database. Authorities arrested him Aug. 28 when law enforcement responded to a vehicle crash in which he was involved.
An affidavit for a warrant to search his home, filed in the Frederick County Circuit Court, states law enforcement in Maryland had documentation to show Torres belonged to the Phantoms outlaw motorcycle gang. Torres had admitted to authorities he once belonged to the Hells Angels, according to the affidavit.
An investigator recovered items from Torres' home, but no firearms, according to the search warrant.
Investigator R.T. Swartz, of the Frederick County Sheriff's Office, filed papers with the court Wednesday related to a search conducted Sunday of a 1995 Ford Bronco registered to Torres. Swartz sought the warrant to search the vehicle related to a charge of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. The vehicle was parked at another residence in Shawneeland, according to the documents.
Swartz received a call on Sunday from a man who said his wife saw a handgun in a vehicle parked on their property, according to the affidavit filed with the search warrant in the Circuit Court. The man told the investigator Torres had parked the vehicle on their property approximately a week and a half earlier, the affidavit states. Torres had told the caller he could "do anything with the vehicle he needed to," according to Swartz.
Torres called the man's wife on Sept. 9 and said he was in jail, Swartz states.
"[She] advised Torres stated to go to his residence and retrieve the keys to his Ford Bronco and the keys to his residence ... to check his mail & keep the vehicle at their residence," the affidavit states.
Investigator Don Chambers observed a small-frame, silver handgun with a wooden handle in plain view in the Bronco, according to the affidavit. Chambers, while at the residence, listened in on a phone conversation between the man and Torres, the affidavit notes.
"Torres stated to [the man], 'My tools are in car the ones that were in my cabinet. I did not have anywhere else to put them. I guess the police are going to take them all. There is no way to prove they are mine. Because they were not in my possession,'" the affidavit states.
Swartz recovered from the Bronco a Gardner .22 caliber long rifle, a Taurus .25 caliber, a Taurus .357 magnum, a Harrington & Richardson Topper Buck 12-gauge shotgun, a Ross 12-gauge double-barrelled shotgun, a Revelation .22 caliber, a Winchester .357 rifle and a Norinco MAK-90. Most of the firearms contained ammunition. The investigator also found bags of additional ammunition in the vehicle, according to the search warrant.
