Photo: Lavell Harthon and his gun
Originally published as a Riverside Police Department Facebook post –
“On Sunday, July 4, 2021 shortly before 2:00 a.m., two Watch A officers patrolling the University Avenue corridor stopped a car near University Avenue and Iowa Avenue. When they contacted the driver, they learned he was a documented gang member with a criminal history of weapons-related offenses.
The driver refused to get out of the car for several minutes, becoming belligerent and uncooperative. A crowd formed around this traffic stop but the officers were eventually able to convince the driver to get out. As he was standing up, officers saw a light coming from underneath the driver’s seat. Once the driver was safely detained, they found a partially concealed loaded handgun with the attached tactical light on the driver’s floorboard.
About this gun… it was found to be a semi-automatic Glock .45 caliber handgun with an extended 26-round magazine, although it was loaded with 16 bullets. The gun was equipped with a threaded barrel capable of accepting a flash suppressor or silencer, which makes it an assault weapon under current gun laws.
The crowd continued to be unruly to the point where officers could not safely complete their investigation at the scene, but instead had to take the suspect and his car to our downtown police station so they could finish. This crowd emerged from a local hookah lounge nearby that was closing. Our officers have frequently responded to calls for service in this same area at closing time regarding shots fired, assaults, fights, and even a shooting homicide that occurred almost two years ago.
Lavell Anthony Harthon, 32-years-old of Moreno Valley, was arrested for multiple weapons violations and resisting arrest. He was later booked into jail but released a few hours later on $50,000 bail.”
CROWD SURROUNDS OFFICERS WHILE THEY ARREST GANG MEMBER was last modified: January 5th, 2023 by
