3 Arrested for Possession of Loaded Gun in Worcester

Monday, November 12, 2018
GoLocalWorcester News Team

Three people were arrested after Worcester police found a loaded gun inside their car during a  routine traffic stop on Friday evening.

Hai Le, 38, of 15 Lawrence StreetMariah Murphy, 22, of 70 Hill Road, Charlton and Fidel Joseph, 38,  of 87 Paine Street were charged with unlawful carrying a firearm, unlawful carrying a large capacity firearm, unlawful carrying of a large capacity feeding device, possession of ammunition without an FID Card and improper storage of a firearm.

Le was also charged with being an armed career criminal.

The Incident

On November 9,  at approximately 5:10 p.m., two Worcester Police officers, working out of the Operations Division, were on routine patrol in the Main South area. At this time the officers decided to drive by the BP Gas Station located at 30 Chandler Street. This location is a known problem area to the officers. At this time the officers observed a Honda Civic idling in the parking lot with the driver as the sole occupant. Shortly thereafter the officers observed a female get into the front passenger seat and a male enter the rear seat.

The vehicle exited the gas station parking lot and turned onto Irving Street without using a turn signal. The Honda was also traveling on Irving Street in the wrong direction. Irving Street is a one-way street.

Upon seeing these infractions the officers activated their emergency lights and signaled the operator of the Honda to pull to the side of the road. The officers approached the car and asked the driver for his license and registration. The officer noticed that the rear passenger was not wearing his seat belt and asked for his name. The three occupants provided names. The driver ended up providing a false name to the officers and could not produce his license and registration. The rear passenger provided a name that could not be confirmed. The rear passenger was also moving about in a nervous manner and dipping his hands out of sight even after being asked to keep his hands in plain view.

While trying to determine the driver’s real identity, the rear passenger began to film the officer with his cellphone. The phone was casting a bright light into the officer’s face which impaired his vision. The officer asked the rear passenger to remove the light from his eyes. The rear passenger continued to film in this manner.

Realizing that the driver was being untruthful with his name, along with the actions of the rear passenger, the officers asked all three occupants to exit the vehicle. All three passengers were searched for weapons which provided negative results. The officer now searched the immediate reachable areas within the vehicle. Moments later the officer yelled out that he discovered a gun under the front passenger seat. The weapon was a loaded Sig Sauer P320 9 MM handgun.

No one had a license to carry a firearm.