3 Guns, 10 Pounds Of Pot Found In Santa Cruz County Car Stop

SANTA CRUZ COUNTY - Deputies uncovered three guns and 10 pounds of marijuana during a vehicle check in unincorporated Santa Cruz on Wednesday afternoon, a Santa Cruz County sheriff's spokesman said Thursday.

A detective saw a car in the 3700 block of Portola Drive around 4 p.m. that matched the vehicle description in a weapon brandishing incident on Park Avenue in Aptos a day earlier, sheriff's Lt. Bob Payne said.

Other deputies helped the detective stop the car and found three men who were detained, Payne said.

The men were identified as 22-year-old Cole Bowman, 23-year-old Logan Rocchi and 26-year-old Darren Cocroft.

A sheriff's K-9 smelled around the car and indicated that there were suspected narcotics inside, according to Payne.

Deputies looked in the car and found two loaded handguns: one under the driver's seat and the other below the front passenger's seat, he said.

An AR-15 rifle and 10 pounds of marijuana were discovered in the car's trunk, according to Payne.

Bowman, the driver, and Rocchi, both from Gallipolis, Ohio were arrested on suspicion of possession of a concealed, loaded firearm in a car and other alleged firearm crimes, the spokesman said.

Cocroft, an Aptos transient, was arrested on suspicion of providing a false name to a peace officer and multiple warrants, Payne said.

-Bay City News, images via Santa Cruz County Sheriff's Office