A Wauconda police canine assisted on a traffic stop where officers located drugs and an illegally possessed gun that led to two men being arrested in Round Lake Park.
Round Lake Park police officers were on patrol around 10 p.m. on December 29 in the 100 block of West Main Street.
They observed a Ford F-150 pickup truck driving westbound on Main Street with improper lighting and illegally tinted windows, Chief of Police Dan Burch told Lake and McHenry County Scanner.
An officer conducted a traffic stop on the vehicle and spoke to the driver, identified as Carlos M. Zepeda Sandoval, 39, of Round Lake Park.
The passenger was identified as Eric Hernandez, 32, of Lake in the Hills.
During the stop, officers requested a police canine to assist with an exterior search of the vehicle.
Wauconda Police Canine Badger and his handler Officer Finze responded.
Badger conducted an exterior search of the vehicle and the canine provided a positive indication of the presence of an illegal drug in the vehicle, Burch said.
The officers spoke with Hernandez outside of the vehicle and found he had a large amount of cash in his possession, some of which contained a white powdery substance, Burch said.
An officer conducted a test on the powder and it indicated positive for the presence of cocaine.
Officers located a loaded semi-automatic pistol under the driver’s seat.
Both subjects were taken into custody, Burch said.
Hernandez was charged with attempted unlawful possession of a controlled substance and was released from custody.
Zepeda Sandoval was charged with two counts of aggravated unlawful use of a weapon, improper rear registration plate light and illegally tinted window.