Wichita police arrest two, recover firearms stolen from vehicles years ago

Wichita police arrested two men and recovered two stolen firearms, one reported stolen in 2017 and the other in 2021, during a traffic stop Tuesday.

The handguns were both taken from vehicles, police records show.

On Sept. 17, 2017, a 41-year-old woman reported one of the guns stolen from a vehicle in the 2400 block of North Bellwood, which is in a housing development in northwest Wichita. And on April 1, 2021, a 49-year-old man reported the other firearm being taken from his vehicle in the 2300 block of Rosemont, which is in a housing development in east Wichita.

Police are still investigating if those stolen guns were used in any crimes.

Police said they found the stolen firearms inside the GMC SUV, which was stopped for making an improper turn at 21st Street and the I-135 north ramp. The officer knew the driver to be on parole, a police spokesperson said.

The 23-year-old man driving and the 43-year-old passenger have the same last name and live at the same address in Wichita, arrest records show.

The driver was arrested on suspicion of being a felon in possession of a firearm used in a crime and for parole violation. The man was released from prison in August, Kansas Department of Corrections records show. He has convictions in Sedgwick County for criminal discharge of a firearm at an occupied dwelling or vehicle that happened in July 2020, criminal possession of a weapon by a felon from October 2023 and aggravated escape from custody from May 2024, KDOC records show.

The other man was arrested on suspicion of being a felon in possession of a firearm and a drug charge. That man had been sentenced on six counts of aggravated robbery from a September 2001 crime in Sedgwick County, KDOC records show. His sentence ended in September 2013.