Huntington man and Newport woman plead not guilty to drug and firearm charges after searches of car and home

A Huntington Beach man and a Newport Beach woman pleaded not guilty Wednesday to drug and firearm possession charges.

Fountain Valley police pulled over a vehicle Monday near Harbor Boulevard and Wilson Street in Costa Mesa. The occupants were Tyler Conklin, 30 — who had been under police surveillance as he was wanted on a no-bail probation violation warrant — and his girlfriend, Lauren Billing, 39, authorities said.

When they were stopped, Conklin was wearing an empty holster on his waistband, police said. A search of the vehicle turned up a loaded handgun under the passenger seat where Conklin had been sitting, as well as methamphetamine, fentanyl and a mason jar filled with a substance that authorities suspected was gamma hydroxybutyrate, a so-called date-rape drug, police said.

Fountain Valley detectives then carried out a probation search at the Huntington Beach home where Conklin rented a room and found six handguns, 32 firearm magazines and about 2,000 rounds of ammunition, police said. Authorities said they also recovered more than a half-pound of methamphetamine, 21 grams of fentanyl and “a variety of additional controlled substances” from the residence in the 21000 block of Barbados Circle.

Conklin pleaded not guilty Wednesday to 16 felony and two misdemeanor counts, including three counts of possession of a controlled substance with intent to sell, six counts of carrying a loaded unregistered firearm in public and one count for being a felon in possession of a firearm, court records show.

Billing pleaded not guilty to two felony counts of possession of a controlled substance with intent to sell, according to court records.

Conklin and Billing were booked into Orange County Jail. Conklin is being held without bail; Billing’s bail was set at $26,000, according to jail records and police. The two are scheduled back in court Sept. 6.