Western Massachusetts Traffic Stop Leads To Two Arrests, Stolen Firearm
Every once in a while the long arm of the law reaches out and snares two at a time! That's what happened recently according to Mass State Police when a routine traffic stop in Greenfield leads to two arrests and the recovery of a stolen firearm.
In a media statement, the Mass State Police report just how the whole incident went down this past Tuesday night shortly before 11 p.m. A State Trooper assigned to State Police-Shelburne Falls was proceeding to his patrol area when he noticed a Nissan Maxima traveling westbound on Route 2 just before I-91 in Greenfield.
The Trooper noticed the vehicle had Pennsylvania license plates so he decided to conduct a random RMV computer inquiry. The Trooper subsequently found out that the registration for the vehicle has been inactive since January 2021.
While the vehicle was pulling over to the side of the road, the Mass State Trooper happened to notice a passenger in the rear of the vehicle moving about in a strange manner.
Once the vehicle came to a complete stop, the trooper approached the vehicle and identified the driver as Nathan Hazlett, 49, of Brattleboro, Vermont. Apparently, Hazlett was not licensed to drive a vehicle.
After a brief period, additional law enforcement arrived on the scene to assist at which point all three occupants were removed from the vehicle in order to perform an inventory search on the vehicle before it was towed away from the scene.
During the search, Troopers recovered numerous used syringes and other assorted items routinely used in the consumption of illegal narcotics. Also recovered under the seat in front of where the rear seat passenger was seated was a loaded Smith & Wesson pistol.
None of the three occupants of the vehicle were licensed to carry firearms. A further inquiry into the pistol's serial number revealed that it had been stolen out of Vermont. Both the driver and the rear-seat passenger, later identified as Carlos Davila, 20, of New Haven, Connecticut were placed under arrest at the scene and taken to the barracks in Shelburne Falls for booking.
The third occupant of the vehicle was released with no charges. Troopers also discovered later at the barracks that Davila initially gave them a false name. Subsequently, they discovered that he had an active arrest warrant out of Connecticut.
Both men were unable to post bail so they were taken to the Franklin County House of Correction to await their arraignment on numerous charges. For the full story, head to their Facebook page here.