FALLBROOK, Calif. (CNS) - A man prohibited by court order from owning a firearm was arrested this week after allegedly being caught with a ghost gun in his vehicle during a traffic stop near Camp Pendleton, authorities said Thursday.
Deputies pulled over Ryan Rotherforth, 28, for a vehicle-code violation in the 1600 block of South Mission Road in Fallbrook shortly after 4 p.m. Wednesday, according to the San Diego County Sheriff's Office.
A computer records check revealed that Rotherforth was the subject of a temporary restraining order stemming from a domestic-violence case and thus could not possess a gun, and that one of his two passengers had waived his Fourth Amendment search-and-seizure rights in court, Sgt. Tyler Skeels said.
During a search of the vehicle, deputies found a loaded pistol in a small black bag behind the front passenger's seat and impounded it, according to Skeels.
"It was discovered that the firearm was altered, unserialized and had live ammunition in the magazine," the sergeant said.
On top of the barrel of the weapon someone had spelled out, in stenciled paint or stickers, the phrase "SEE YOU IN HELL" in block letters, according to sheriff's officials.
Rotherforth was arrested on suspicion of felony weapons offenses, including carrying a loaded gun in public and illegally altering a firearm.
"Unlike weapons made by a licensed manufacturer, (privately) manufactured firearms (known as) ghost guns do not have a serial number or other identifiable markings," the sergeant noted. "The lack of a serial number makes it extremely challenging for law enforcement agencies to track these firearms to their owner or maker, hindering or delaying investigations and crime-solving efforts."
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