By JOHN T. WARD
A traffic stop led to the arrest of 22-year-old Red Bank man for possession of a handgun loaded with highly lethal ammunition earlier this week, borough police said Friday.
A juvenile was also arrested in the incident.
From a press release by Captain Mike Frazee:
On Tuesday, April 25, 2023, at approximately 1545 hrs. Patrolman Preston Mellaci conducted a motor vehicle stop on West Bergen Place just east of Shrewsbury Avenue for a motor vehicle infraction.
Upon identifying the occupants of the vehicle, Kevin Castillo-Lima [seen at right], a 22 year old borough resident was identified as a rear passenger in the vehicle. Patrolman Mellaci, familiar with Castillo-Lima, was aware of a possible municipal court warrant for his arrest radioed dispatch to confirm the warrant.
Patrolman Frank Metta being in the area, arrived on scene as back up.  A short time later, dispatch was able to verify that the municipal court warrant existed and therefore placed Castillo-Lima under arrest. Search incident to arrest revealed Castillo-Lima possessing a loaded Glock 26 handgun in a fanny pack style bag that was strapped to his chest. The gun contained both ball- and hollow-point ammunition.
A further investigation also revealed a juvenile occupant of the vehicle was found in possession of a BB gun that resembled the likes of a real handgun.
Castillo-Lima was transported to the Monmouth County Correctional Institution after being charged with unlawful possession of a weapon as well as possession of hollow point ammunition.
The juvenile was released to a guardian after also being charged with unlawful possession of a weapon.
Frazee said Mellaci and Metta “should be commended for outstanding police work. Anytime you recover a handgun from the streets without anyone being injured is a successful day.”
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