At about 11:09pm Saturday, Turlock Police Officer Mulhim made a traffic stop at National Market in the 1200 block of East Avenue.

Mulhim made contact with and identified the vehicle’s driver as Antonio Smith, 45 of Turlock.

When Mulhim had his dispatcher run Smith, he discovered he was on parole for bringing a controlled substance into a jail or prison.

Smith was removed from his vehicle and detained in handcuffs so a parole search could be conducted.

During a subsequent search of Smith’s vehicle, Mulhim discovered a Taurus handgun that had been reported stolen out of Texas, other people’s personal identifying information, United States Postal Service jackets, a USPS master key, and a crowbar.

Smith’s rap sheet indicated several prior felony convictions and Smith admitted the gun belonged to him.

An assisting officer called a parole agent on the phone and explained the foregoing circumstances to him. Subsequently, the agent authorized a parole hold.

Smith was arrested and booked into the Stanislaus County Public Safety Center on charges of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, possession of ammunition by a prohibited person, carrying a loaded firearm, identity theft, altering a firearm’s mark of identification, receiving stolen property, possession of burglary tools, and violation of parole.

Additionally, Smith’s vehicle was towed.

Later, Turlock City News became aware of a Ceres Courier article from 2010 where Smith had been arrested for the murder of Jesus Maya, 26 of Modesto. It’s unclear what the disposition of that case was, as Smith’s parole was unrelated to it.