PORT HURON, Mich. – A man who drove all the way from North Carolina to see a woman he met online was found passed out drunk in Port Huron with four loaded guns, drugs and his 11-year-old son in the car, authorities said.
UPDATE: Man identified
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A Port Huron officer noticed a blue Honda Civic parked at the Marathon gas station in the 1300 block of Military Street at 1:32 a.m. Monday (May 17).
A 40-year-old man from Raeford, North Carolina, was slumped over the steering wheel inside the Civic, officials said. An 11-year-old boy was playing with Pokemon cards next to a loaded handgun in the back seat, according to police.
When the officer tried to wake up the man in the driver’s seat, he noticed another loaded handgun, a .223-caliber rifle with loaded magazines and a loaded shotgun, officials said.
There was also an open liquor container, prescription drugs and what appeared to be illicit drugs inside the Civic, according to authorities.
Investigation revealed the man had driven to Michigan to meet a woman he’d met on a social media site, police said. He was driving on a suspended license and didn’t have a permit to carry a firearm, officials said.
The man was arrested and take to the St. Clair County Intervention Center for carrying a concealed weapon, child endangerment/operating under the influence of drugs, possession of dangerous drugs, possession of a firearm while intoxicated and driving on a suspended license.
Police said the 11-year-old was the man’s son. The boy was turned over to the Department of Human Services, which is making arrangements to get him back home to relatives in North Carolina.
“This is another example of proactive policing by members of the Port Huron Police Department which resulted in the protection of a child, the arrest of a dangerous person, and numerous guns taken off the City of Port Huron streets,” Port Huron police Chief Joe Platzer said.
Anyone with information about the case is asked to call police at 810-987-6688 or email by clicking on the CAPTURE link at www.porthuronpolice.org.