Police Seize Ghost Guns, Drugs; 3 Men Arrested: Stamford PD

STAMFORD, CT — Police said they seized illegal ghost guns and drugs, and arrested three men after a traffic stop earlier this week in the Turn Of River section of Stamford.

According to Capt. Richard Conklin of the Stamford Police Department, the department's Narcotics and Organized Crime squad was out on regular patrol Wednesday around 5:30 p.m. when they noticed a U-Haul van with Arizona license plates parked at a shopping plaza at 1209 High Ridge Road.

Police saw suspicious activity, and "people loitering around the van, people coming and going," Conklin said. Officers believe they saw a drug transaction, and set up surveillance in their unmarked car.

The van, which was occupied by three men, left the area and officers made a traffic stop up the road.

During the traffic stop, Conklin said officers found a 9 mm pistol in the driver's side compartment, which belonged to the driver, Michael Zimmerman, 21, of Stamford.

A passenger in the van, Logan Buckner, 23, also of Stamford, had a similar pistol in his waistband, according to Conklin.

The pistols were missing serial numbers, Conklin said. Such guns are referred to as "ghost guns", meaning they're unserialized and untraceable firearms that can be bought online and assembled at home.

"Ghost guns are something our intel has been telling us has been very problematic in many of the other cities in Connecticut like New Haven, Bridgeport, Hartford, Waterbury. We've seen a few of them, but not too many," Conklin said.

The third passenger, Dakai Hemphill, 20, whose listed address is a homeless shelter in Stamford, admitted to officers that he had marijuana in his possession and just sold some to someone in the shopping center, Conklin said.

Officers confirmed that by tracking down the buyer in the shopping center, who turned over nine pouches of marijuana, Conklin said, adding that in the van next to Zimmerman, officers found two packages of marijuana totaling 92 grams.

Zimmerman cooperated with police and told officers he had another ghost gun at his Perna Lane home in Stamford, Conklin said. Police went to the home and seized another 9 mm pistol, a 20 gauge modified shotgun, miscellaneous gun parts, large amounts of ammunition, a digital scale and $641 in cash, according to Conklin.

Zimmerman was charged with carrying a pistol without a permit, two counts of failure to obtain a serial number, three counts of possession of a high capacity magazine, possession of marijuana and possession of marijuana with intent to sell, Conklin said. He was able to post $150,000 bond.

Buckner was charged with carrying a pistol without a permit and failure to obtain a serial number, Conklin said. Buckner's bond was raised from $150,000 to $250,000, and he remains in custody.

Hemphill also remains in custody on a $25,000 bond. He was charged with sale of marijuana, Conklin said.

"This is very much an ongoing investigation to see if these parties have been selling and distributing other ghost guns," Conklin said, praising the officers for their heads-up police work on Wednesday.

"The officers felt they saw drug transactions, and they moved in for a motor vehicle stop," Conklin said. "It worked out very well with the seizure of these weapons and narcotics."