Suisun man charged with gun crime after Berkeley police stop
Suspect Rencis Jacob was also charged with driving without a license, court records show.
A 38-year-old Suisun City man has been charged with possession of a "ghost gun" after getting pulled over in Berkeley last week, police report.
Rencis Jacob was also charged with driving without a license, court records show.
Berkeley police on patrol Thursday afternoon stopped Jacob at Jefferson Avenue and Allston Way in central Berkeley, BPD said.
When they learned his license had been suspended, police prepared to tow his vehicle, authorities said.
Before the tow, "officers conducted a search and located multiple boxes of ammunition and a loaded, unserialized handgun (commonly referred to as a 'ghost gun') and consequently arrested the driver," police said.
Rencis Jacob. BPD
On Friday, the Alameda County DA's office charged Jacob with gun possession (no serial number) and being an unlicensed driver, according to court records.
Both crimes are listed as misdemeanors and Jacob is no longer in custody, according to booking records.
He is set for arraignment Jan. 16.
Jacob has no other charged criminal cases in Alameda County but has been arrested repeatedly in Solano County in past years, according to online records.
Gun seizures in Berkeley are down slightly this year, with a week to go before Jan. 1.
But unserialized ghost gun seizures have dropped significantly, with 30 in 2024 compared to about 17 so far this year, according to BPD data.
Overall, police seized 111 guns in Berkeley in 2024 compared to about 100 so far this year.
