Stolen Guns Seized In Traffic Stop: Sparta Police

SPARTA, NJ — A traffic stop led to a police foot chase and recovery of two stolen guns on Wednesday, according to the Sparta Police Department.

Travon Johnson, 19, of Easton, Pennsylvania, faces charges for receiving stolen property and possession of illegal firearms. He was additionally charged with possession of a firearm by a felon, having just been released from jail, Lt. John Lamon said in a news release about the incident.

Johnson ran into the woods in the direction of Layton Lane, where police later found him hiding in a dump truck bed. In their search for him, with New Jersey State Police and police departments from neighboring towns assisting, police uncovered a 9 mm Glock and 9mm Ruger, which Lamon stated were stolen from Easton.

The search for Johnson lasted approximately two hours, with Sparta police alerting the public of its end, on a Facebook post at about 4 p.m.

Police stopped the car — which had a bullet hole in its rear driver side door — as it was weaving in and out of traffic on Route 15 North, on Wednesday at about 2 p.m., near Anderson Farms.

Johnson was in the back seat, with an unidentified 19 and 17-year-old in the car, each also from Easton, Lamon told Patch in an email statement.

After running the plates, officers on the scene said there was an alert for the car, with it possibly tied to an armed robbery in Newark on Tuesday. Lamon said a subsequent investigation found the car may also be connected to an armed robbery on Saturday in Phillipsburg.

Patch reached out to both Newark and Phillipsburg police departments for comment.

Lamon told Patch that the car was impounded and is accessible to both Newark and Phillipsburg police departments.

Questions or comments about this story? Have a news tip? Contact me at: jennifer.miller@patch.com.