Jan 09, 2012

Wicked Local

Roxbury — Two men from Roslindale and Roxbury face multiple gun, assault and driving charges after they shot at a man on Jan. 7 in Roxbury who allegedly beeped at them when they didn’t move their car at a green light, according to a police report.

Antonio Vasquez, 25, of Roxbury and Joel R. Martinez, 19, of Roslindale were both arrested and charged with assault by means of a dangerous weapon, unlawful possession of a firearm, unlawful possession of ammunition, carrying a loaded firearm, possession of a large capacity firearm, being an armed career criminal and discharging a firearm within 500 feet of a dwelling, police said.

Vasquez was also charged with possession of a firearm, subsequent offense, operating a motor vehicle with a suspended/revoked license, operating to endanger, speeding and failure to stop for police officers, according to the report.

The gun charges were added after officers returned to the Mobil Gas station at 85 Southampton St. the next day. On Jan. 7, the suspects, who were found at the station after police said they allegedly fired a gun at the victim’s car, were approached by a witness and told to wait there while officers were called. The front passenger then ran off, according to the report.

When officers returned on Jan. 8, they found a loaded firearm in a nearby bush, the report said. According to the report, the bush was located along the path that the suspect from the car had allegedly run down when the witness approached the car.

The incidents began at around 3:27 p.m. on Jan. 7, when officers from District B-2 (Roxbury) went to the area of 280 Seaver St. in Roxbury in response to a ShotSpotter alarm. ShotSpotter is gunshot location technology that is being used in certain areas of Boston. A short while later, officers went to the area of 47 Lawrence Ave. for another ShotSpotter alarm, according to the report.

After the alarms, officers found a victim who told them that he was stopped at a red light at the intersection of Blue Hill Avenue and Seaver Street waiting to make a left turn when the light turned green. He said that when the car in front of him didn’t move, he beeped, according to the report.

The victim said that as he and the driver of the car in front of him turned onto Seaver Street, he and the people in the other car argued, police said. The man said the front passenger fired several shots at him through the open window, striking his rear passenger door, police said.

The victim said he drove away and made his way toward Walnut Avenue where he again saw the suspects’ car parked with its headlights turned off, according to the report. The victim said as he drove past the car, another shot was fired at his car but missed, according to the report.

The man said he drove away and again saw the suspects’ car while he was on Washington Street heading toward Columbia Road, police said. This time, the victim tried to catch up to the suspects’ car to get a license plate number, but the car sped off, according to the report. He told police he followed their car to Lawrence Avenue to get the plate number, but was again shot at by the men when their car stopped and the victim had nowhere to go, police said. The victim was not hit and was able to get the plate number, police said.

Based on that information, a witness saw the suspects’ car speeding on Dudley Street and then went to 85 Southampton St., the address of a Mobil Gas station, according to the report. There, the witness approached the suspects’ car. Three people were inside and the witness told them to stay in the car while he notified Boston Police, according to the report. The front passenger, however, ran from the car in a way that made him look like he allegedly had a gun, according to the report.

Officers came to the area and a short while later pulled into the South Bay Shopping Mall parking lot to find the suspects and/or their car, according to the report. As officers went through the parking lot, they saw two men matching the suspects’ descriptions as well as their car that was parked in front of the Target store, according to the report. The men were stopped after officers saw spent shell casings in plain view inside the car, police said.

The witnesses and victim positively identified the men as the two who were in the car when it allegedly fired upon the victim, according to the report.