Suspected Drug Dealer From Watsonville Cuffed After Traffic Stop

SCOTTS VALLEY, CA – With the aid of a K-9 officer, police last week arrested a Watsonville man on drug and weapons charges after stopping his vehicle for a moving violation in Scotts Valley, officials said.

The suspect, Samuel Morrelli, "was acting very nervously" during the traffic stop, and officers deployed "Atlas" to check the vehicle, the Scotts Valley Police Department said.

"Atlas resoundingly alerted to the odor of a controlled substance," the agency said, adding that a subsequent vehicle search revealed a loaded, sawed-off shotgun with the serial number removed, a loaded dart gun, more than five ounces of marijuana, packages of cocaine, narcotic prescription pills, cash and paraphernalia and documentation associated with the sale of controlled substances.

Morrelli was booked on various charges including suspicion of possession of controlled substances and marijuana for sale, possession of a loaded firearm, possession of a modified firearm with serial number removed and possession of prescription pills without a prescription, police said.

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--Images via SVPD, Renee Schiavone