Separate Walnut Creek traffic stops lead to arrests of Concord, Richmond men with weapons

29-year-old convicted felon Bryant Payne, 36-year-old Juan Cortez-Lopez each has history of arrests

By Walnut Creek Police Department

Proactive patrolling leads to several illegal weapons being recovered and removed from our streets!

On March 5, 2026, Officer Young was patrolling near a retail store when he noticed a suspicious vehicle in the parking lot. While approaching the vehicle, he observed a firearm magazine in plain view and detained the occupants. After performing a search, he found an unregistered loaded handgun with a high-capacity magazine. The driver, 29-year-old Bryant Justin Payne, of Richmond, was found to be a convicted felon with prior weapons violations, which led to him and the passenger being taken into custody.

While conducting a separate traffic stop, Officer Young also found 36-year-old Juan Cortez-Lopez, of Concord, in possession of brass knuckles and a billy club, which led to his arrest.

According to localcrimenews.com, the 147-pound Payne is Black and has nine previous arrests by a variety of agencies for crimes including gun charges, embezzlement multiple times and resisting, obstructing or delaying a peace officer.

Also, according to localcrimenews.com, Cortez-Lopez has his own history of arrests for gun and drug charges.

Thank you, Officer Young, for removing dangerous weapons from our streets and enhancing community safety. This is a prime example of proactive policing at its finest!!

Allen D. Payton contributed to this report.