A South Bay man was jailed over the weekend on allegations that he kept an array of guns in the face of a court-ordered weapons prohibition stemming from an ongoing family violence case, a discovery made in light of recent “erratic” behavior that included a threat to shoot police, authorities said.
Russell Charling, a 41-year-old San Martin resident, was arrested Friday afternoon after Santa Clara County Sheriff’s investigators learned that he “was in possession of illegal assault rifles,” according to the agency.
That would be in violation of a restraining order issued against him in connection with a family violence charge that court records show was filed in January. He also has a conviction from a November 2021 family violence charge that was still being adjudicated as recently as May.
According to the sheriff’s office, Charling became familiar to deputies after they confiscated what they thought were all his guns after the Superior Court issued the criminal restraining order, which barred any contact with his ex-wife and children and temporarily banned him from gun possession.
The sheriff’s office said they recently got a tip that Charling had firearms again and were told that he “was becoming increasingly erratic and aggressive,” and “made threats to shoot law enforcement if he encounters them.” That prompted investigators to secure arrest and search warrants for Charling, which they served to him near his home Friday.
An ensuing home search recovered three assault rifles, a handgun described as a “ghost gun” because of its construction from untraceable, privately made components, other similar gun parts, high-capacity ammunition magazines, more than 1,500 rounds of ammunition and unspecified amounts of cocaine and methamphetamine, authorities said.
The sheriff’s office deployed several teams to make the arrest and were joined by police in Morgan Hill, Gilroy, Campbell and Sunnyvale.
Charling was booked into the county Main Jail in San Jose and was being held in lieu of $612,000 bail, jail records show. The sheriff’s office said the booking offenses include possessing a firearm in violation of a court order, committing a felony while on bail, possessing an illegal assault weapon, and illegally assembling firearms. His arraignment is tentatively scheduled for Tuesday.
Anyone with information about the gun investigation can contact sheriff’s detectives at 408-808-4500 or leave an anonymous tip at 408-808-4431.
Source: www.mercurynews.com