Felon Caught With Ghost Gun During Traffic Stop: Sheriff's Department

VISTA, CA — A felon is facing multiple charges after deputies found him with a ghost gun during a traffic stop in San Diego's North County, authorities said.

Deputies from the Vista Sheriff's Station Gang Enforcement Team contacted three individuals sitting in a vehicle shortly before 9 p.m. Wednesday in the 100 block of Emerald Drive in Vista, according to the San Diego County Sheriff's Department.

The man in the driver's seat, 19-year-old Frankie Escovar, had a privately manufactured firearm and loaded magazine, Sgt. Seung Park said.

"Unlike legal, commercially manufactured firearms, privately manufactured firearms are not marked with serial numbers," Park said. "There is no way to track their origins or their owners, making it difficult for law enforcement to investigate or solve a crime."

Escovar was booked into the Vista Detention Facility on suspicion of charges of being a felon in possession of a firearm, among other charges.