Man Accused of Fleeing Border Patrol Agents, Possessing Stolen Weapons

Border Patrol agents from the Murrieta station apprehended a man Tuesday who was allegedly found with a large cache of stolen weapons inside his vehicle after he reportedly try to flee a checkpoint.

The agents were conducting checkpoint operations Tuesday on Old Highway 395 in Fallbrook when at about 2:15 p.m., a man driving a blue Dodge Caravan made an illegal u-turn in an attempt to avoid them, according to a news release.

“Agents followed the vehicle and intercepted the man on southbound Interstate 15 at the Mission Road exit,” said U.S. Border Patrol San Diego Sector Spokeswoman Mary Beth Caston.

Caston said the agents questioned the man, a 37-year-old U.S. citizen, and that he indicated the van was not his and consented to a search.

Agents allegedly found a weapons safe containing several rifles, handguns, and hundreds of rounds of ammunition in the rear of the vehicle.

It was determined that the weapons were associated with a recent home burglary in Oceanside, she said, so the Oceanside Police Department responded to the checkpoint and took custody of the man, the weapons and the vehicle.

The suspect was not identified in the news release.