Delaware State Police

Superintendent Colonel William Crotty

Troopers Arrest North Carolina Man with Stolen Gun on Traffic Stop

Date Posted: Wednesday, August 7th, 2024

News Release

Delaware State Police arrested 33-year-old Ralphon Owens of Greensboro, North Carolina, on multiple gun and drug-related charges on a traffic stop in Dover.

On August 7, 2024, at approximately 1:17 a.m., a trooper on patrol saw a Jeep Cherokee exit the Rodney Village Shopping Center parking lot onto POW/MIA Parkway with its headlights off. The Jeep continued driving with its headlights off and failed to signal when turning onto Charles Polk Road. The trooper pulled the car over and spoke to the driver, identified as Ralphon Owens. While talking to Owens, the trooper smelled a strong odor of marijuana coming from the vehicle and saw plastic baggies containing a leafy green plant-like substance consistent with marijuana in plain view. During a search of the vehicle, troopers found approximately 7 grams of suspected marijuana and a loaded .22 caliber handgun that a computer check showed was stolen from Los Angeles County, California.

Owens was taken to Troop 3, where he was charged with the crimes listed below, arraigned by Justice of the Peace Court 7, and committed to Sussex Correctional Institution on a $7,003 secured bond.

Ralphon Owens

Carrying a Concealed Deadly Weapon-Firearm (Felony)
Possession of Deadly Weapon by a Person Prohibited who also Possesses a Controlled Substance (Felony)
Receiving a Stolen Firearm (Felony)
Consumption of Personal Use Quantity of Marijuana in a Vehicle
Failure to Have Lights on When Required
Failure to Signal