> ## Content Index
> Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.berkeleyscanner.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further.

# Berkeley car stop leads to drug sales, gun charges
- URL: https://www.berkeleyscanner.com/2024/04/03/arrests/berkeley-car-stop-drug-sales-gun-possession-charges/
- Published: 2024-04-03T21:52:11.000Z
- Updated: 2024-04-03T21:52:11.000Z
- Description: Kenya Helton told police that she had the gun "for safety" and that the drugs "belonged to a friend who left them inside her vehicle."
- Author: Emilie Raguso
- Tags: Arrests, West Berkeley, BPD, Guns, Crime, Northwest Berkeley, #articles

Police in Berkeley seized a loaded gun as well as drugs packaged for sale during a recent car stop in the marina, authorities say.

On March 7, a [Berkeley police](https://www.berkeleyscanner.com/topic/berkeley-police-department/) officer on patrol spotted a Mercedes without license plates at Marina Boulevard and University Avenue at about 9:30 p.m.

While speaking to the driver, the officer could smell burnt marijuana and saw remnants of it inside the car, he wrote. 

The driver "also told me she recently smoked and showed me a burnt marijuana cigarette," the officer wrote in charging papers. 

**Read more about [crime](https://www.berkeleyscanner.com/topic/crime/) in Berkeley.**

The driver, 43-year-old Kenya Helton of Oakland, also admitted that she had a gun in her backpack, police wrote.

Officers found the loaded gun during a search, according to charging papers. 

They also found additional marijuana as well as "several individually packaged bindles of suspected methamphetamine and crack cocaine." 

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/8e/3b/8e3bb516-9b88-46c2-aa85-566ed9c3647c/content/images/2024/04/Kenya_Helton.jpg) 

#### Kenya Helton. **BPD*

Helton told police that she had the gun "for safety" and said the drugs, which police found in her pocket, "belonged to a friend who left them inside her vehicle." 

The Alameda County district attorney's office charged Helton with five felonies related to drug sales and gun possession. 

She was released on her own recognizance in mid-March. 

She is set to appear in court for a progress report hearing April 10\. 

Berkeley police have seized [nearly 30 guns](https://bpd-transparency-initiative-berkeleypd.hub.arcgis.com/pages/current-trends?ref=berkeleyscanner.com) so far this year, according to department data.

💡

****The Berkeley Scanner is 100% member-supported. That means no ads, no spam and no distractions. Help ensure timely, accurate public safety news for Berkeley by** [****signing up now**](https://www.berkeleyscanner.com/#/portal/)****.**