WESTFIELD – A man stopped for a traffic infraction on Little River Road early Monday morning was found to be in possession of a stolen pistol and was arrested.
State Trooper Matthew Kane (formerly a city firefighter) reports he was enforcing traffic regulations on Route 20 shortly after midnight when he observed a car “unable to stay within the marked lanes on the roadway” and he stopped the Honda Accord after it turned on to Little River Road and again twice crossed the center line.
Kane reports that when the operator opened the glove compartment to get the vehicle’s registration he saw what appeared to be the handle of a handgun and saw that the operator appeared to be shaking as he sorted through the papers he had removed from the glove box.
Kane reports that he ordered the man from the vehicle and, after performing a pat frisk, investigated and found a loaded 9 mm Smith and Wesson automatic pistol. He reports that there was no round in the firing chamber and that “when the weapon was removed from the vehicle the operator made an unsolicited statement saying the firearm belonged to him.”
The operator, Axel J. Gomez, 21, said that he did not have a license to carry firearms and Kane found that he had not been issued a firearms identification card either.
Gomez was arrested and transported to the Russell state police barracks where, Kane reports, a check revealed that the gun, valued at $500, had been reported to be stolen in Vermont between May 28 and June 2, 2014.
Gomez was charged with possession of a large capacity firearm, improper storage of a large capacity firearm, possession of a firearm without a FID card or a license to carry a firearm (a subsequent offense), possession of ammunition without a FID, receiving stolen property valued more than $250, carrying a loaded firearm without a license, failure to wear a seatbelt and a marked lanes violation.
Gomez was transported to the Hampshire County House of Correction where he posted bail which had been set at $200.
Gomez, who had initially provided a Chicopee address (his brother’s), appeared in Westfield District Court on yesterday and amended his address to be 169 Maple St., Springfield, which he said was his mother’s address.
At his arraignment, Assistant District Attorney Mary Partyka told Judge Philip A. Contant that Gomez had been convicted in 2011 for two charges of possession of a firearm in Springfield District Court and is due in Chicopee District Court today for a pending case.
She also noted that he had twice been found to violate probation as a juvenile when she asked Contant to set bail at $15,000.
Attorney John Kavanaugh, appointed to represent Gomez only for his bail hearing, said that Gomez had been found with a gun in a car which didn’t belong to him and said that Gomez “is going to be fighting this tooth and nail.”
Contant allowed the release of Gomez on $5,000 personal surety but ordered that he not possess firearms or ammunition “for any reason whatsoever.”
Gomez is scheduled to return to court for a pretrial hearing on Dec. 23.
