Issue link: https://newsleader.uberflip.com/i/170820
CRIME BLOTTER Loaded concealed weapons were recovered during a Sheriff's Office traffic stop early on the morning of Sept. 11. Contributed photo TRAFFIC STOP LEADS TO CONFISCATION OF LOADED WEAPONS The Sarasota County Sheriff's Office has arrested two men following a traffic stop and search of their vehicle, which revealed concealed, loaded weapons, the office has announced. Just after 1 a.m. on Sept. 11, near U.S. 301 and Northgate Boulevard in Sarasota, a patrol deputy pulled over a blue four-door Chevrolet for several traffic violations, a news release says. When the deputy approached the car, "both occupants were acting nervously, the release adds. When the deputy approached the car, the report says, he could smell alcohol, and he saw a red plastic cup had been dumped over on the floorboard of the passenger side of the vehicle. After the deputy asked the driver whether anything illegal was in the car, the report notes, the driver "hesitated, looked at the passenger, and looked back at me and said no." When the deputy went back to his patrol car to check background on the driver, the report continues, the deputy learned the driver was on inmate release. Then the deputy called a Sarasota Police Department K9 unit to the scene. The dog "alerted [deputies] to the smell of marijuana," the news release notes. A search of the vehicle turned up a small amount of marijuana as well as two firearms in the pocket on the back of the front passenger seat, the release continues. "Both were fully loaded with chambered rounds and both