Late Sunday morning, March 5, two Healdsburg Police vehicles stopped a white pick-up truck on Presidential Circle near Memorial Bridge, in response to a request from another agency, according to Healdsburg Police Sgt. Kristin Dean.
Oscar Aguilar, a 27-year-old Healdsburg man, was pulled over in the 100 block of Presidential Circle for suspected drunk driving, and detained in handcuffs. When the officers searched the vehicle, according to their Facebook post, “they located a fully loaded ‘ghost’ gun with an extended 34-round magazine that was directly under the driver’s seat.”
A ghost gun is a weapon lacking serial numbers or other markings, often privately assembled from kits purchased online, and therefore untraceable.
In addition to the initial charge of possession of a ghost gun, charges included “possession of a large capacity magazine, possession of a dirk or dagger, possession of a loaded handgun in a vehicle, possession of a controlled substance, driving under the influence of alcohol, driving with a BAC of .01% or more while on DUI probation, driving on a suspended driver’s license, and a warrant for failing to appear after his written promise.”
Dean clarified that while the alcohol reading of .01% was sufficient to charge Aguilar with driving with an alcohol reading while on DUI probation, his BAC at the time of arrest was .08% or higher, sufficient for the separate DUI charge.
Aguilar was stopped by police at 11:05am; by the time he was taken to County Jail and processed, about three hours had elapsed. He was released on Monday, Dean said, and is no longer in custody.
“Ghost guns have been a growing issue throughout the state for some time,” said Chief Matt Jenkins about the illegal firearm recovered. “This is the first one that we have recovered in Healdsburg since 2021, when we recovered three.”
The photograph accompanying the post of March 5 showed the handgun with its long magazine, a number of bullets, the “dirk” or dagger and two baggies of what appear to be marijuana and mushrooms. While Jenkins agreed “the picture makes it very difficult to determine what’s in the baggies,” he said it was marijuana.
The post concluded with the statement, “In the past 10 days, HPD officers have made 22 arrests, including two for illegal firearm possession, illegal ammunition possession, and narcotic possession.”
Jenkins later noted that the number of arrests is about 50% higher than normal, which he said was due to “a combination of proactive police work by police department staff and as a result of calls from the community.”
