Berkeley police seize illegal gun during pedestrian stop
After police put Author Hayes in handcuffs, they found the semi-automatic handgun in his cargo pants pocket, police wrote
A man has been charged with three felonies after police stopped him in South Berkeley and found a gun in his pocket, according to court papers.
On Feb. 9, someone called Berkeley police to report a man who appeared to be loading a handgun on the sidewalk in the 3200 block of Adeline Street just after 4:10 p.m., police wrote in charging documents.
When officers arrived, they found 31-year-old Author Hayes of Richmond on the block, BPD wrote.
After police put Hayes in handcuffs, they found the semi-automatic handgun in his cargo pants pocket, police wrote.
Hayes told police that "the gun did not belong to him" and that a stranger had given it to him before officers arrived, according to charging papers. He said he "did not know who the owner of the firearm was."
Police determined that Hayes was prohibited from firearm possession due to a protective order in Contra Costa County as well as a Yuba City battery conviction.
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"A record check on the gun revealed it was not registered to Author and there was no record on file," BPD wrote.
The Alameda County DA's office charged Hayes on Tuesday with carrying a concealed firearm and two counts of unlawful firearm activity, according to court papers.
His bail was set at $10,000 and he is no longer in custody, according to booking records.
Hayes is scheduled for a pretrial hearing on Wednesday at Wiley Manuel Courthouse in Oakland.
