Skeletor-looking mask, AR-15 and handguns found during traffic stop, Florida cops say
A gold-colored mask that resembles Skeletor, He-Man’s archenemy, a short barrel AR-15 rifle and three loaded handguns were some of the items found Monday night during what police thought was a routine traffic stop, according to the Collier County Sheriff’s Office.
Around 9:45 p.m., deputies pulled over a gray Toyota for “multiple traffic infractions” near Immokalee Road in unincorporated Collier County, a block away from Interstate 75, the sheriff’s office said in a Facebook post. A police report details that the driver and front passenger weren’t wearing seat belts and that the vehicle didn’t halt at a stop sign.
After the officers smelled weed and none of the four occupants were able to produce medical marijuana cards, deputies say they searched the vehicle — finding two loaded firearms “within immediate reach of the driver.”
Another firearm was found next to the front passenger, sheriff’s office said, adding that nobody inside the vehicle had a permit to carry a firearm.
Deputies say they also found in the vehicle 16 magazines (some of which are “high-capacity”), hollow point bullets, hundreds of rounds of ammunition, two ballistic armor vests, multiple ski masks, a “large amount” of vape pens and THC oil and marijuana.
The driver of the Toyota, Ian Marco Flores-Antelo, 23, and the front passenger, Christopher Dorestan, 18, were arrested and are facing charges of carrying a concealed firearm, according to the sheriff’s office. Flores-Antelo is also being charged with possession of synthetic narcotics, possession of a bulletproof vest while committing certain offenses and possession of marijuana under 20 grams; meanwhile Dorestan faces an additional charge of resisting arrest, the sheriff’s office said.
Flores-Antelo remained behind bars Tuesday, county jail records show, and Dorestan bonded out the day before.
Sheriff Kevin Rambosk said in a statement the arrests underscore that no traffic stop is ever routine.
“It could have been an entirely different outcome for these deputies given the amount of guns and ammunition inside the vehicle,” Rambosk added.
This story was originally published October 25, 2022 at 3:48 PM.
