A 38-year-old man, who is a convicted felon, was arrested after he reportedly was in possession of police-grade body armor.
Ricky Carrillo Jr. was charged with unlawful possession of body armor by a felon, a third-degree felony. He also has a parole violation charge, jail records show.
The reported incident started at 2:13 a.m. April 15 as UTPB Police saw a silver 2014 Mercedes CLA 250 driving in the 4300 block of E. University Boulevard, an UTPB probable cause affidavit stated.
UTPB police reportedly saw the vehicle fail to maintain a single marked lane four times and swerved across all three lanes of traffic without signaling. A traffic stop was conducted and the driver was identified as Carrillo.
While UTPB police spoke with Carrillo, officers detailed he appeared to be very nervous and his hands were shaking while speaking to officers, the affidavit stated. Carrillo stated he was in route to pick up a friend but he was unable to provide an address.
Officers reportedly saw in plain view, a bullet proof vest sitting in the back seat of Carrillo’s vehicle. The vest appeared to be a soft army level 2 vest, which is similar to what law enforcement wears underneath their uniforms.
Carrillo was instructed to exit the vehicle for further investigation, the affidavit stated. Carrillo was found to have three prior felony convictions with the most recent date of Oct. 10, 2019, for possession of a controlled substance, a second-degree felony, from Andrews District Court.
The body armor was reportedly removed from Carrillo’s vehicle and confirmed to be a “GEAR HAWK ARMOR” Level 2, soft body armor bullet proof vest with a full front and rear bully proof soft plates.
Carrillo was arrested, charged and transported to the Ector County Law Enforcement Center. He has one bond totaling $15,000 and was still in custody as of Friday afternoon, jail records show.
