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Paterson Detectives Chase Down Suspect, 19, Recover Loaded Gun, Magazine, Drugs

A 19-year-old Paterson man who bolted as city detectives approached dozens of people drinking on a street corner was carrying a loaded gun with a defaced serial number, authorities said.

INSET: Mekhi Porter

INSET: Mekhi Porter

Photo Credit: PATERSON PD / INSET: FACEBOOK

The Special Investigations Division detectives chased Mekhi Porter through several back yards after he took off from the corner of Rosa Parks Boulevard and Warren Street, where nearly 100 people had gathered shortly after 10 p.m. Friday, March 18, Public Safety Director Jerry Speziale said.

Detectives John Traynor, Kenneth Kerwin, Wojciech Kulbabinski, and Suquan Gary eventually chased down Porter on Mercer Street while recovering a 9mm Smith & Wesson semi-automatic pistol that he tossed along the way, the director said.

They also collected a high-capacity mag and 13 Percocet, he said.

Porter was charged with drug and weapons offenses and sent to the Passaic County Jail to await a first appearance in Central Judicial Processing Court in Paterson.

The gun, meanwhile, was headed to the New Jersey State Police lab to determine whether it may have been used in a crime, Speziale said.

Members of the Passaic County Sheriff’s Patrol Division assisted, he said.

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