STOCKTON – Steven Baca was riding his bicycle on the wrong side of the road. 

It seems harmless enough. But when members of the Manteca Police Department gang suppression unit and the San Joaquin County gang task force attempted to stop and talk to him at the corner of Magnolia and Commerce Avenues in Stockton, the 23-year-old fled. 

He had good reason to. By the time officers corralled him – setting up a perimeter and closing in on him so that they could take him into custody without incident – they discovered that in the bag that he was carrying he had a loaded silver .357 Magnum Smith & Wesson handgun and a loaded .22 caliber Rosco Arms Vest Pocket revolver. 

Further investigation determined that Baca was a convicted felon and a documented gang member. He was taken into custody and charged with two counts each of being a felon in possession of a firearm, a gang member in possession of a loaded firearm, possession of a loaded firearm by a felon, possession of a loaded firearm by a felon in public and possession of a loaded firearm by a gang member in public. All are felonies. 

He’s also being charged with being a felon in possession of ammunition. 

Baca was booked into the San Joaquin County Jail and is being held on $1.05 million bail. He has no scheduled court date.