PORTLAND, OR (KPTV) -
Portland police said they've recovered two handguns hidden inside a car outfitted with bulletproof armor.
On Saturday about 5:35 p.m., police said Gang Enforcement Team officers stopped a 1997 Mercedes Benz S500 sedan at north Vancouver Avenue and Buffalo Street for illegally tinted windows and failure to use a turn signal.
Police said when officers stopped the car, the driver, Thomas Earl Cooper Jr., 24, and the passenger, Antonio Richards Jr., 20, got out and started to walk away.
Police said both men are known gang associates.
Officers obtained consent to search the car and an officer looking under the passenger side front floor mat noticed a crease in the carpet. Police said the officer lifted the floor and found two handguns in a compartment under the front floorboard. One of the handguns was reported stolen this year.
Investigators say the car was also outfitted with bulletproof armor.
Cooper and Richards were taken into custody and booked into the Multnomah County jail on charges of possession of a loaded firearm and theft.
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