Spokane Men Arrested After Guns, Ammunition Found In Car Troopers Make Stop For Speeding; Two Allegedly On Way To Cda

Two Spokane men were arrested Tuesday after Washington State Patrol troopers searched their car and found four guns, two knives and enough ammunition to make Rambo jealous.

Stacy Carson, 25, E7118 Carlisle, and Alan Rochek, 28, E3115 Carlisle, were booked into the Spokane County Jail about 4 a.m. on various drug and firearms charges.

They were being held there late Tuesday without bail.

Trooper Greg McNeilly spotted Carson’s 1976 Blazer speeding on Interstate 90 about 3 a.m. He said Carson was driving about 10 miles over the 55 mph speed limit.

When Carson opened the driver’s side door, McNeilly said he noticed a large knife strapped to the inside of it. A rifle ammunition belt was wrapped around the gear shift, Sgt. Chris Powell said.

Carson was driving without a license, and was carrying a loaded Glock 9mm semiautomatic handgun, troopers said.

Carson was charged with being a felon in possession of a firearm. He served time in 1992 for robbing a South Hill 7-Eleven store.

His passenger, Rochek, was armed with two .45-caliber handguns and a hunting knife - all strapped to his body with shoulder holsters, troopers said. One gun was equipped with a laser sight. He also had seven fully loaded magazine clips for the guns in his pockets.

Although Rochek had a concealed weapons permit, troopers found a chunk of crack cocaine in his pocket - a discovery that immediately invalidated his permit, Powell said.

“You can’t have dope on you and carry a gun, even if you have a permit,” he said. “It just doesn’t work that way.”

Rochek was charged with possession of cocaine.

Inside the Blazer, troopers found a MAK-11 9mm machine pistol, 14 rounds of ammunition for it and 12 more loaded magazines for the .45-caliber handguns Rochek was carrying. Ammunition for a 12-gauge shotgun also was found.

Neither man offered an explanation for the arsenal, Powell said. They told troopers only that they were heading to Coeur d’Alene.

“You would think they were probably up to no good,” Powell said. “And it poses a real threat to law enforcement officers making routine traffic stops and stumbling on something like that. It’s real scary.”