Santa Rosa driver arrested after police find ‘ghost gun’ in car

A 27-year-old man was arrested late Friday night after Santa Rosa police discovered a loaded “ghost gun” in his vehicle during a traffic stop, officials said.

Martel Nelson of Santa Rosa was booked into the Sonoma County jail on suspicion of impaired driving and several firearms charges following a stop on Mendocino Avenue just before midnight, according to a Santa Rosa Police Department news release.

A Santa Rosa police officer patrolling the area of College and Mendocino avenues spotted Nelson’s black Nissan Sentra traveling north on Mendocino Avenue and stopped the vehicle for what the department described as code violations.

The officer could smell alcohol and “freshly burned marijuana” coming from the vehicle when he approached the driver, the department said.

Nelson showed signs of alcohol and drug impairment and he was arrested for driving under the influence after an investigation.

While officers searched the vehicle, they found a gun described as a Polymer 80 glock style 40-caliber gun inside a backpack loaded with 13 rounds of ammunition, police said.

The gun was not registered.

Such guns, known as ghost guns, can be built at home from kits ordered online and because they have no serial numbers can’t be traced. Buyers don’t need to pass background checks to purchase them.

Nelson was arrested on suspicion of possessing an unregistered firearm, possessing a concealed firearm in a vehicle and possessing a loaded firearm in public, police said.

You can reach Staff Writer Paulina Pineda at 707-521-5268 or paulina.pineda@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @paulinapineda22.