Convicted Felon Stopped With 100 Rounds Of Ammo In Vehicle: Cops

STRATFORD, CT — A Bridgeport man is charged with multiple gun crimes after a traffic stop in Stratford. Mark Peeples was stopped while driving a vehicle with dark tinted windows and a canceled registration about 1 p.m. Thursday, according to Stratford police.

Detectives were patrolling the area around Success Avenue — which has seen an increase in street robberies and narcotics sales, as well as a recent homicide — when they stopped Peeples, a police department news release said. The smell of marijuana emanated from Peeples's vehicle, and inside detectives found a stolen 9 mm gun loaded with six rounds of ammunition and a box holding about 100 more rounds, according to police. Peeples, a felon convicted of previous weapons crimes, is not allowed to carry a gun.

Peeples, 29, is charged with having a weapon in a vehicle, illegal transfer of a firearm, carrying a firearm without a permit, criminal possession of a firearm, criminal possession of ammunition, possession of a large capacity magazine, driving with a suspended registration, failure to carry insurance and possession of less than half an ounce of marijuana, police said in the news release.

Peeoples's bond was set at $250,000, according to police, and he is scheduled to appear in court Sept. 23.