Police recover two loaded guns, assortment of drugs, and arrest alleged dealer
By Jayed Rahman
Published: November 7, 2015
After a night of violence Thursday night into Friday morning, city police deployed a second plainclothes directed patrol unit to curb flare ups in crime hot spots Friday evening into Saturday morning, leading to the recovery of two guns, said police director Jerry Speziale.
Speziale said the additional patrol unit took two guns off the street while ensuring all hot spot locations were cleared from 6 p.m. Friday to 4 a.m. Saturday. At 10 p.m. police officers Gomes and Giaquinto witnessed a group of eight men blocking public passage on Governor and Carroll Streets. As they approached one of the eight began to flee on foot with the two officers on his tail.
Wellington Santana, the suspect, was dropping packets of heroin as he ran from police. 70 glassines of heroin were recovered. Santana was cornered in the rear of 125 12th Avenue. He was arrested and charged with various drug offenses and obstructing a government function.
$465 in drug money was confiscated from Santana.
At 11 p.m., the two officers received information from a concerned citizen, that a gun was stashed in a garbage receptacle in front of 88 Dixon Avenue. A loaded .22 caliber PT-22 Taurus and a bag containing 24 glassines of heroin, 4 bags of marijuana, and 13 baggies of crack-cocaine, was recovered from the garbage can.
The weapon was loaded with eight .22 caliber rounds, said the director.
The two officers little after that observed a large group playing loud music on a porch at 305 10th Avenue. The party ended when the two officers exited their unmarked unit and dispersed the group. A search of the porch led to the recovery of a Cobray Double barrel .45 caliber hand gun loaded with one 410 Remington shotgun shell, said the director.
“The hard work by the men and women has paid off with removing 2 guns,” said Speziale.