SPRINGFIELD, MA — Members of the Meriden, Connecticut Police Department arrested a shooting suspect and seized three illegal firearms, cocaine, fentanyl and marijuana on Thursday.
Javier Nieves, 30, of Meriden, Connecticut, was taken into custody following an investigation by Springfield Police Special Victims Unit detectives.
On March 15 at approximately 2:10 a.m., officers responded to the 100 block of Maple Street for a ShotSpotter activation.
Officers observed two vehicles that had been struck by gunfire and a window at a local elementary school that was damaged.
Officers recovered 25 shell casings.
Members of the Springfield Police Special Victims Unit under the direction of Captain Trent Duda began investigating the incident in connection with domestic violence.
SVU detectives identified Nieves as the suspect and were granted a warrant for his arrest.
Working with the Meriden Police Department, law enforcement officers applied for and were granted a search warrant for Nieves’ home and car.
On Thursday, Springfield Police detectives and Meriden police located Nieves in Meriden and placed him under arrest.
During a search of his vehicle, officers recovered approximately 30 grams of suspected cocaine, 10 pills of suspected fentanyl and more than 128 grams of marijuana.
The Meriden Police Department’s Special Weapons and Tactics Team executed the search warrant at his home.
Officers seized two illegal handguns reportedly stolen out of North Carolina, an AR-style rifle and two high-capacity magazines.
The magazines were capable of holding 30 and 45 rounds respectively.
Nieves is charged with theft of a firearm, illegal possession of an assault weapon, illegal possession of a large-capacity magazine, possession of narcotics with the intent to sell, possession of narcotics and operating a drug factory.
He also faces charges on a Springfield District Court arrest warrant including carrying a loaded large capacity firearm on a public way, discharging a firearm within 500 feet of a building, carrying a loaded firearm without a license, defacement of property, malicious destruction of a motor vehicle and stalking.
Nieves is currently being held in Connecticut in lieu of a $750,000 bond and is extraditable to Massachusetts once his charges in Connecticut are adjudicated.
