Additional investigation into a known felon who was in possession of a stolen handgun from a March 3 arrest, resulted in Oakdale Police officers serving a search warrant on the lawbreaker’s home and finding more contraband that resulted in more criminal charges.

On March 3 Oakdale Police were conducting a welfare check of a woman at a Willowood Drive apartment complex and were told Luis Baez Jr., 32, of Oakdale, was inside her residence playing with a gun, racking its slide back and forth. Police also learned Baez Jr. had displayed several bags of methamphetamine during his visit.

After police contacted Baez, a known felon with a history of arrests mostly involving narcotics, they searched the apartment and found a .45 caliber pistol loaded with hollow point bullets and four cellophane bags of methamphetamine – with a total weight of just under an ounce – partially hidden in a bedroom of the apartment that was used for the woman’s infant.

Further investigation revealed the gun was reported stolen from a burglary in Modesto.

Police arrested Baez and booked him on a number of felony charges. The following day, Baez posted $50,000 bail and was released.

On March 8 a team of Oakdale Police officers served a search warrant on Baez’s Crow Creek Drive residence where he was home in a converted bedroom in the garage.

Police Sergeant Joe Carrillo stated that police canine Cruze alerted to areas in the makeshift bedroom where officers later located 5.1 grams of methamphetamine and over an ounce of marijuana stashed in the garage-bedroom.

Sgt. Carrillo also said officers recovered three loaded magazines with .45 caliber ammunition and shotgun ammunition in the bedroom and took Baez into custody.

During the search, Baez’s girlfriend, Patricia Muniz, 27, who also lived in the garage-bedroom, attempted to leave through a side door. When Sgt. Carrillo stopped her he found that she had two fully loaded .45 caliber magazines concealed under her arm and was carrying a cellophane bag with loose .45 caliber bullets.

Muniz was arrested for attempting to conceal or destroy evidence, a felony, and booked into the Stanislaus County Women’s Jail facility.

Baez Jr. was arrested for being a felon in possession of ammunition, possession of methamphetamine for sales, possession of over an ounce of marijuana, and possession of drug paraphernalia. He was booked into Stanislaus County Jail.