Hannibal Police recover stolen gun during traffic stop

HANNIBAL, Mo. — On Friday, March 4, just after 3 pm, an officer with the Hannibal Police Department saw a vehicle without a front license plate traveling on US 61 near The Steamboat Bend Shopping Center.

The officer was able to position himself behind the vehicle and saw the temporary tag was expired. The officer initiated a traffic stop and smelled what was believed to be marijuana emitting from the vehicle. The driver stated they did not have a medical marijuana card and that there was a gun inside the vehicle.

All occupants were safely removed from the vehicle. During the search of the vehicle officers located the gun the driver had described. Upon further search of the vehicle a second handgun, high capacity magazines, and a 50 round drum magazine was recovered.

The second handgun was previously reported stolen from Olivette, Missouri.

One of the occupants, Tristan T. Holts, 18 of St. Louis, was taken into custody for possession of the stolen firearm and transported to the Marion County Jail on a twenty-four-hour hold pending formal charges. The other three occupants were taken into custody and questioned and released.

Holts remains in the Marion County Jail.