Traffic stop in Wayne County leads to Ohio man's arrest on machine-gun charge

RICHMOND, Ind. — Wayne County sheriff's deputies say a traffic violation led to the discovery of a machine gun in an Ohio man's car.

Dalon Lewis Anderson-Sparks, 28, of Columbus, was charged in recent days in Wayne Superior Court 1 with possession of a machine gun, a Level 5 felony carrying up to six years in prison.

A Wayne County deputy on the morning of June 15 pulled over a Mercedes Benz — driven by Anderson-Sparks — for following another vehicle too closely on Interstate 70 near the 148-mile marker in Richmond, according to an affidavit.

The deputy reported smelling the odor of marijuana in the vehicle, resulting in a search. Investigators reported finding a .357-caliber handgun equipped with a switch to make the handgun "capable of fully automatic fire."

More: Task force raid leads to meth-dealing charge against Richmond man

Twenty bullets were also recovered from the car. Although Anderson-Sparks maintained he only had a single marijuana cigarette in the vehicle, deputies said they found bags containing 1.673 pounds of marijuana.

Anderson-Sparks was also charged with dealing in marijuana, a Level 6 felony carrying up to 30 months in prison, and possession of marijuana, a misdemeanor.

He was released from the Wayne County jail on Monday after posting a $3,000 bond. An initial hearing in his case is set for June 25.

According to court documents, a woman and child were traveling with Anderson-Sparks at the time of his arrest. He told deputies they were in the process of moving from California to Ohio.

Douglas Walker is a news reporter at The Star Press. Contact him at 765-213-5851 or at dwalker@muncie.gannett.com .

This article originally appeared on Muncie Star Press: Traffic stop in Wayne County leads to Ohio man's arrest on machine-gun charge