Two men face multiple firearm charges after stolen car stopped on Highway 17

Two men face firearm charges after a traffic stop east of Sault Ste. Marie led OPP to a stolen car, a handgun, a shotgun and ammunition.

A traffic stop on Highway 17 in Plummer Additional Township led to the seizure of a loaded shotgun, a 9 mm pistol and ammunition, and resulted in firearms charges against two men.

Ontario Provincial Police said that officers on patrol noticed an orange car travelling westbound at a high rate of speed at about 4 p.m. on April 18, near Big Perch Bay Road east of Bruce Mines. As a result, the officers initiated a traffic stop.

“A query revealed the car was stolen, leading to the arrest of both the driver and passenger,” OPP said in a news release.

A subsequent search of the vehicle turned up a loaded 12-gauge shotgun, a 9 mm handgun and ammunition.

The driver, a 21-year-old man from Brampton, and his passenger, a 26-year-old man from the Delta Region, B.C., have each been charged with possession of property obtained by crime over $5,000, two counts of unauthorized possession of a prohibited or restricted firearm and unauthorized possession of a weapon.

Both men also face two counts of possession of a loaded prohibited or restricted firearm, two counts of possession of a prohibited or restricted firearm with ammunition along with six other firearm-related offences.

The two accused appeared in a video bail hearing in Blind River on Sunday, April 19.