Two Albany men arrested on felony weapon charges

ALBANY, N.Y. (NEWS10) -- The Albany County Sheriff's Office announced that two Albany men were arrested following a traffic stop on Tuesday morning. Christian Billings, 52, and Jesse Dutcher, 28, are both facing felony charges.

On August 20 around 11:15 a.m., deputies stopped a car near Henry Johnson Boulevard and Livingston Avenue after reportedly witnessing a traffic violation. During the stop, deputies say the car's driver and passenger, identified as Billings and Dutcher respectively, were allegedly found to be in possession of a loaded, defaced and illegally owned semi-automatic handgun and a box of ammunition.

Billings and Dutcher were taken into custody at the scene. They now face the following charges:

• Second-degree criminal possession of a weapon
• Third-degree criminal possession of a weapon

Billings was additionally charged with multiple traffic violations. The two men were arraigned at the City of Albany Criminal Court before being remanded to the Albany County Correctional Facility.