Three men from Virginia are facing a variety of charges after two vehicles were stopped for reckless driving Saturday night. Lancaster County Sheriff’s Chief Deputy Ben Houchin says they received a series of calls from a mom and her daughter that a Nissan Infinity and a Ford 150 pickup were speeding and passing on the shoulder of the interstate.
Deputies were able to stop both vehicles along Highway 77, one near Roca Road and the other near Stagecoach Road. He says deputies found open containers of alcohol in both vehicles and both drivers were intoxicated, but below the legal limit.
Houchin says after stopping the Ford 150 the deputy smelled marijuana and found a loaded Glock under the seat that the driver and passenger didn’t report. “The law is very clear that when a law enforcement officer contacts you, you are supposed to disclose right there, right now.”
Houchin says after stopping the Nissan Infinity it took the 23-year-old driver than 10 minutes to grab the loaded handgun from under the seat and put it on the passenger seat. He says all three men were following each other to their hotel in Beatrice.
The 23, 21 and 19-year-old men were in Nebraska for work and were heading to their Beatrice hotel.