As Pawnee Fire rages in Northern California, police find man with loaded gun, 2 pounds of marijuana in evacuation zone

A Ukiah man was arrested Monday after police found him driving through an area of Spring Valley under mandatory evacuations, his car packed with two pounds of marijuana and a loaded handgun, authorities said.

Helicopters work to extinguish the Pawnee fire burning east of Spring Valley, Calif., Monday, June 25, 2018. (Karl Mondon/Bay Area News Group)

A Lakeport police officer was patrolling for unauthorized people, when about 1:40 p.m., he came upon a black Toyota 4-Runner with expired registration being driven by Christian Hiran Campos, the Lake County Sheriff’s Office said in a news release.

When the officer pulled over Campos, the 30-year-old said he was working in Spring Valley but couldn’t identify who he was working for or say what he was doing, the sheriff’s office said.

A search of his SUV turned up the marijuana and handgun, as well as a small scale and binoculars, the Sheriff’s Office said.

Campos was taken to the Lake County jail on suspicion of being an unauthorized person in a disaster zone, possession of more than 1 ounce of cannabis, possession of cannabis for sale, transportation of cannabis for sale, possession of a concealed firearm in a vehicle and being an unlicensed driver.