Teens Found With Ghost Guns, Drugs After Troopers Stopped To Help Them In Stalled Vehicle

PRINCE GEORGE'S COUNTY, MD — Two teenagers have been arrested on gun charges after a state trooper stopped to help the occupants of a 2017 Nissan Altima that had broken down in Prince George’s County. The trooper found the minors with ghost guns in the vehicle and marijuana.

Shortly before 11:30 p.m. Oct. 20, a trooper from the Forestville Barrack stopped to check on a vehicle parked on northbound Route 4, which had broken down just before the Capital Beltway in Prince George’s County. As the trooper approached the car, he smelled marijuana, according to the Maryland State Police.

The officer spoke with the driver and the three passengers inside the vehicle. That's when the trooper saw marijuana inside the car and asked the driver to get out, and spotted a handgun.

The driver, Kamari Dameone Smith, 17, of District Heights, was charged as an adult with loaded handgun on person, possession of firearm/minor and other related gun charges. Smith’s handgun was later found to be loaded with a round in the chamber, according to the Maryland State Police

The passenger sitting behind the driver, Marquis Raynell Middleton, 16, of Clinton, ran into nearby woods, and troopers said they saw him drop a handgun during the chase. It was recovered and found loaded with a round in the chamber.

Shortly after midnight, police found Middleton in the woods where he was arrested without incident, the police department said.

Middleton was charged as an adult with loaded handgun on person, possession of firearm/minor and other related gun charges, according to police.

One of the two other passengers in the vehicle, also juveniles, was given a civil citation for the possession of less than 10 grams of marijuana and released from the scene. The other teen was charged with criminal possession of CDS. He was taken to the Forestville Barrack and released to his parents, according to the police department.

Smith and Middleton were taken from the scene to the Upper Marlboro Detention Center.