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Ex-con Christian Thomas fumbled trying to remove a gun from a fanny pack while running from Detectives John Traynor, Mustafa Dombayci, Yamil Pimienta and Mohammad Bashir around 7:40 p.m. Friday, Public Safety Director Jerry Speziale said.
They caught Thomas, 33, near the corner of 12th Avenue and East 23rd Street and seized the bag, which contained a 9mm Taurus semi-automatic handgun, Speziale said.
A little over four hours later, the same detectives spotted a firearm magazine sticking out of a bag that another ex-con, 21-year-old Keime Porter, was wearing while hanging out in a large group in a municipal parking area at Van Houten Street and Magee’s Alley, Speziale said.
Porter ran as when approached, then tossed the bag as he scaled a fence behind a Mill Street building, the director said.
Backup Officer Hector Mendez and Lt. Peter Hasselberger captured him moments later.
Inside the bag was a 9mm SCCY semi-automatic handgun that had been reported stolen and a high-capacity magazine, Speziale said.
Both Thomas and Porter were sent to the Passaic County Jail pending first appearances in Central Judicial Processing Court in Paterson.
Both are charged with weapons offenses that include being convicted felons in possession of a firearm and having high-capacity magazines. Porter also was charged with having a stolen weapon.
City investigators weren’t done, however.
A little over an hour later, Detectives Joseph Aboyoun and Luis Roca approached a group gathered at the corner of 16th Avenue and Carroll Street and found Devin Born, 18, carrying a .380-caliber Walther semi-automatic handgun.
Brown was sent to the Passaic County Jail, charged with weapons offenses that include having a defaced firearm.
Detectives turned their attention to a 3:44 a.m. shooting Sunday on Godwin Avenue.
Two victims – a 34-year-old woman and a 26-year-old man, both from the city – went to St. Joseph’s Regional Medical Center via private vehicle for treatment of their injuries, authorities said.
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