A man who was stopped because he was allegedly speeding through city streets in a BMW later also was arrested on gun charges, police said.
Middletown Police Department patrol officers were on routine patrol when they spotted a black BMW allegedly traveling at a “high rate of speed westbound on Liberty Street going through multiple stop signs at intersections,” police said.
Officers caught up to the vehicle; it quickly turned into a private driveway, police said.
When the driver, later identified as Alton Malabre, 33, of Hartford, got out of the vehicle, he was allegedly armed with a handgun and engaged the officers in a brief foot chase, police said.
A police dog later found a loaded black unserialized 9mm handgun “in close proximity to where Malabre was taken into custody” Thursday, police said.
Malabre is charged with disobeying the signal of an officer, misuse of marker plates, illegal operation of a vehicle with a suspended license, illegal operation of vehicle without insurance, reckless driving, illegal possession of a large capacity magazine, tampering with evidence, carrying a pistol without a permit, first-degree reckless endangerment, illegal possession of weapons in a vehicle, and illegal possession of a firearm without a serial number, police said.
Malabre was arraigned in Middlesex Superior Court on Friday, police said.