Police/Fire

Vehicle stop yields pistol, drugs

BILAL ABDULLAH

BILAL ABDULLAH

WESTFIELD – An expired inspection sticker led to a traffic stop in the city Saturday evening and, when a pistol was found in the trunk of the car, both occupants were arrested.
Officer Gary Hagar reports that he stopped the 2001 Hyundai sedan at 5:39 p.m. Saturday because it did not have a valid inspection sticker and a routine check revealed that the car’s registration was expired.
Before the vehicle was towed, Hagar followed police policy and inventoried the vehicle’s contents. He found a green bag in the trunk and reports that the operator, Stephanie N. Britt, 39, of 31 N. Alhambra Circle, Agawam, asked him to hand it to her.
Due to the “odd weight of the bag”, Hagar reports he checked before he gave it to her and found that it contained a pistol which was not properly secured with a trigger lock.
Britt told Hagar that the pistol belonged to her passenger, Bilal A. Abdullah, 36, of 1442 Roosevelt Ave., Springfield. She said that, before she picked up Abdullah, her trunk had been empty except for a piece of rope.

STEPHANIE BRITT

STEPHANIE BRITT

Abdullah, Hagar reports, “was unable to provide a consistent story, and according to Britt, is a drug dealer and owner of the gun.”
Hagar reports that neither party has a license to carry a firearm. Since the pistol had been available to both occupants, both were arrested.
During the booking process, Britt’s purse was found to contain 12 packets which Hagar recognized “to be consistent with the packaging of heroin” and the contents of the packets tested positive for heroin.
She was also found to be in possession of “white rock in a pill bottle … consistent with being a rock of crack cocaine.” Two pipes “consistent with the type of pipes that are used to smoke crack cocaine” were also found in her purse.
Both were charged with carrying a firearm without a license and improper storage of a firearm. Britt was also charged with possession of a Class A drug (heroin) and possession of a Class B drug (cocaine).
Both appeared for arraignment in Westfield District Court before Judge Philip A. Contant where both were released on bail – $1,000 in Abdullah’s case and $300 in Britt’s case – pending a Nov. 13 hearing.
Capt. Michael McCabe has previously said that motor vehicle stops play a significant role in the efforts of city police maintain the city’s relatively low rate of crime.

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