Santa Rosa police arrest suspect with gold-plated gun, assault rifle, drugs

Police confiscated numerous firearms Wednesday. The arrest followed months of investigation, police said.|

A gold-plated handgun and an assault rifle were among a cache of guns seized Wednesday following the arrest of a Rohnert Park man who was the subject of a months-long drugs and weapons investigation.

Daniel Solorio, 24, was arrested on suspicion of multiple charges including possessing a machine gun, possessing an assault rifle, carrying a gun in a school zone and possessing drugs for sale in a school zone, according to the Santa Rosa Police Department.

He’s being held without bail in the Sonoma County Jail, and Sonoma County Superior Court records did not list any filed charges as of Thursday.

Authorities began investigating Solorio in September when they learned he had illegal guns and drugs for trafficking, police said.

Further investigation will determine who provided or purchased the guns and drugs, but for now authorities are not looking for any other suspects.

“Looks like he was operating by himself,” Santa Rosa Police Sgt. Chris Mahurin said.

They detained and searched him just before 11:30 a.m. Wednesday at a restaurant on Rohnert Park Expressway near State Farm Drive in Rohnert Park.

Solorio was carrying a loaded, fully automatic Polymer 80 “ghost gun” with a high-capacity magazine, police said.

The Police Department’s narcotics and property crimes teams searched homes on Golf Course Drive in Rohnert Park and Aston Avenue in Santa Rosa.

The Aston Avenue home belonged to a relative of Solorio’s, but investigators did not find any evidence there, Mahurin said.

Solorio lived at the Rohnert Park home, which is near Marguerite Hahn Elementary School. Investigators found cocaine, evidence of drug sales, “significant amounts of ammunition,” a commercial-grade money counter, high-capacity magazines and several other illegal guns, according to police.

One of the guns was stolen and others “met definitions” of illegal assault rifles and short-barreled rifles, police said.

Police seized: A gold-plated Colt 9 mm Luger handgun; a Micro Draco 7.62 rifle; an AR-15-style rifle; a Masterpiece Arms 9 mm; two handguns and a 9 mm “ghost gun” with a Glock switch to make it fully automatic and shoot 1,800 rounds per minute.

It does not appear the suspect used any of the guns to commit crimes beyond possessing them, Mahurin said.

You can reach Staff Writer Colin Atagi at colin.atagi@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @colin_atagi

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