A trooper with the Louisiana State Police arrested a North Carolina man in Lincoln Parish last week after a stolen gun was found in the man’s car.
Christopher Espinoza Lira, 19, of Concord, North Carolina, was charged with possession of stolen firearm on February 21 after the trooper found the Ruger Koenig SR1911 .45 ACP pistol during a K-9 search.
Lira was stopped after the trooper observed a traffic violation on eastbound Interstate 20 near Simsboro. The vehicle exited I-20 onto La. Highway 507 where it was stopped.
The trooper wrote in a report that he saw items inside the vehicle that led him to believe criminal activity was afoot.
Another trooper with a drug detection dog came to the scene. The K-9 alerted to the presence of narcotics in the vehicle. Troopers detected the odor of marijuana inside the vehicle. The firearm was located and its status as stolen verified by the Charlotte-Mecklenburg, NC Police Department.
Lira refused to answer any questions. He was booked at the Lincoln Parish Detention Center for illegal possession of a stolen firearm. Bail was set at $15,000.
This information has been provided by a law enforcement agency as public information. Persons named or shown in photographs or video as suspects in a criminal investigation, or arrested and charged with a crime, have not been convicted of any criminal offense and are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
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