During routine traffic stop, Oklahoma police discover a gun, rattlesnake, and uranium


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It all started when police in Guthrie, Oklahoma, spotted a car driving with expired tags.
During the June 26 traffic stop, the driver, Stephen Jennings, told officers up front that he had a gun in the console. That was only the beginning of the saga, as officers soon ran the plates and learned the car had been reported stolen. While searching the vehicle, officers went on to discover more and more things that probably shouldn't have been there, including an open bottle of Kentucky Deluxe whiskey, a rattlesnake in a terrarium, and a canister of radioactive powdered uranium.
"When that happens, of course, we call in a company that deals with that specifically, and it's taken safely into possession," Guthrie Police Sgt. Anthony Gibbs told KFOR on Thursday. "The uranium is the wild card in that situation." While Jennings has since been charged with everything from possession of a stolen vehicle to transporting an open container of liquor to operating a motor vehicle with a suspended license, he's so far in the clear on the uranium, because investigators are still trying to figure out what he wanted to use it for.
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A free daily digest of the biggest news stories of the day - and the best features from our website
Catherine Garcia is night editor for TheWeek.com. Her writing and reporting has appeared in Entertainment Weekly and EW.com, The New York Times, The Book of Jezebel, and other publications. A Southern California native, Catherine is a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.
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