Trooper finds 15 guns in vehicle on Salisbury Boulevard

A trooper stopped a new Toyota Tundra on Saturday because the driver was using a cellphone while driving.

What Cpl. T. Bean found was a vehicle loaded with more than a dozen guns and a New Hampshire driver prohibited from buying or possessing them in the state of Maryland.

Darren Paul Seik, 29, was taken into Maryland State Police custody and charged with possession of regulated firearms, a rifle and shotguns by a person prohibited, as well as related offenses.

According to Maryland State Police in Salisbury, Bean stopped the 2015 Tundra along North Salisbury Boulevard at the Lotus Plaza shopping center after observing the driver talking on a cellphone.

The trooper said several guns were in view, and a search uncovered two shotguns, 10 rifles, three handguns, six boxes filled with ammunition and one case of binary exploding rifle targets, according to police.

April is National Distracted Driving Awareness Month, and Maryland State Police Sgt. John Revel said the trooper was specifically on watch for motorists violating cellphone laws.

The suspect told authorities he was transporting the weapons through Maryland en route to a new residence in Virginia.

Seik appeared before a District Court commissioner late Saturday. He was not in jail Sunday afternoon, and the circumstances of his release were unclear.