Groveland Man Arrested After Found With Unique Gun

Published Feb 13, 2026 5:30 pm

East Sonora, CA – A Groveland man was arrested after a CHP traffic stop in East Sonora, where officers discovered he had a unique gun and drugs inside his vehicle.

CHP officers traveling westbound on Tuolumne Road, near Lambert Lake Road, recently stopped a BMW sedan for a possible DUI.  During the investigation, officers learned the driver, 56-year-old Keith Dantonio, had an active DUI warrant for his arrest, and he was taken into custody.

Before the car was removed, investigators conducted a vehicle inventory and discovered suspected methamphetamine and drug paraphernalia. CHP spokesperson Officer Steve Machado relayed, “They [the officers] also located a kinetic energy gun that is used to shoot solid projectiles along with the ammunition.”

Dantonio was transported to the Tuolumne County Jail and booked for the warrant, along with fresh felony and misdemeanor drug charges.