NEWS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
NEBRASKA STATE PATROL
www.nsp.state.ne.us
Contact: Deb Collins 402-479-4985
August 31, 2009

Trooper Finds Guns & Drugs during Traffic Stops

(Lincoln, NE)- Two separate traffic stops over the weekend led to the arrest of two men and the discovery of guns and drugs.

Around 7:15 p.m., Saturday, August 29, 2009, a trooper stopped a gray, 1988 Buick, about a ½ mile west of Highway 103 on Pioneers Road in Seward County, for failure to signal.  The driver and sole occupant of the vehicle, 27-year-old Brett Irland, of Lincoln, was found to be driving under suspension (DUS).  Irland also had an active warrant out of Lancaster County for failure to appear on speeding and DUS charges.

During an inventory of the vehicle, the trooper uncovered a Winchester semi-automatic .12 gauge shotgun, and a BB gun, along with several foil pipes, believed to contain methamphetamine.   Irland, was lodged in the Seward County Corrections on the a active warrant as well as charges of Driving Under Suspension, Possession of a Controlled Substance, Possession of Drug Paraphernalia, and Possessing a Firearm while in Possession of a Dangerous Drug.

A check of the weapon confiscated revealed the .12 gauge shotgun had been reported stolen during the commission of a robbery in Saline County in February 2009.  The Nebraska State Patrol assisted the Saline County Sheriff’s Office in the serving of a search warrant at Irland’s Lincoln residence, where syringes, baggies, a scale and spoons containing methamphetamine reside as well as video surveillance equipment were discovered.

“This is a great job by the trooper of looking beyond the traffic stop,” said Field Services Commander, Major Russ Stanczyk.  “By doing so, he may have well helped solve a robbery and put a potentially dangerous individual behind bars.”    

In a separate traffic stop on Friday, August 28, 2009, a Michigan man was jailed in Lancaster County for Possession of a Firearm by Felon.

Around 9:30 p.m., Friday, August 28, 2009, a trooper stopped an eastbound silver, Chevy Malibu, near mm398 on Interstate 80 in Lancaster County, Nebraska for speeding.   A Lancaster County Sheriff’s Office K-9 indicated an odor of drugs coming from the vehicle.  A search of the vehicle led to the seizure of a.45 semi-automatic handgun, more than an ounce, but less than a pound of marijuana, and a bottle of Codeine cough syrup without a prescription.  The handgun was located under the backseat of the vehicle.

The driver and sole occupant of the vehicle 34-year-old Kollin Winbush, of Kentwood, Michigan, was lodged in the Lancaster County jail on charges of Possession of a Firearm by a Felon, Possession of a Defaced Firearm, Carrying a Concealed Weapon, Possession of a Controlled Substance, and Possession of Marijuana More than an Ounce, Less than a Pound.

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