Pasadena police officers conducting a traffic stop encountered a parolee and a woman carrying a loaded gun in her purse Friday night, police said.
Lt. Anthony Burgess said officers pulled over a Honda Accord at 8:25 p.m. near the intersection of N. Summit Avenue and E. Hammond Street for a vehicle code violation.
Inside the car was a parolee and unlicensed driver, Burgess said.
While searching the car, officers discovered a loaded handgun inside a purse, he said. The gun was unregistered.
Both the driver and the passenger were arrested, Burgess said.
Booked on suspicion of possession of an illegal firearm were parolee Walter Eugene Ellis, 27, of Redlands, and Petrina Rachel Thompson, 42, of San Bernardino.
Ellis remains in custody at the Sheriff’s Inmate Reception Center in Los Angeles in lieu of $50,000 bail. Thompson remained in the Pasadena City Jail Saturday, held on a $35,000 bond.