SPRINGFIELD, MA — On Monday at between 4:30 p.m. and 6 p.m., Springfield police officers seized a loaded firearm and arrested two suspects.
Around 4:15 p.m., officers located a vehicle suspected of being involved in at least three shooting incidents in the city this month at the intersection of Roosevelt Avenue and Bay Street.
The driver, later identified as Jadon Cruz, pulled into a gas station on Bay Street but did not place the vehicle in park.
As an officer approached the vehicle, Cruz sped off.
Cruz sped through the city, crossing over double yellow lines, cutting between cars and failing to stop at red lights or stop signs.
On Daviston Street, Cruz is alleged to have purposely rammed an occupied vehicle to gain space but did not succeed.
Cruz then got out of the car and ran away.
Officers then approached the vehicle and identified the passenger as Asheeam Taylor.
Inside his fanny pack, officers recovered $276 in cash and marijuana packaged for sale.
Under the passenger seat, officers recovered a loaded firearm.
Officers placed Taylor under arrest.
While continuing to search for Cruz, officers went to his home on Island Pond Road and informed the residents to call if Cruz returned home.
Around 6 p.m., officers located Cruz on the 100 block of Island Pond Road and placed him under arrest.
Cruz also has open firearms charges out of Chicopee District Court.
Twenty-two-year-old Asheeam Taylor of Springfield is charged with carrying a firearm without a license, carrying a loaded firearm without a license and possession with the intent to distribute a Class D drug.
Twenty-year-old Jadon Cruz of Springfield is charged with operating a motor vehicle with a suspended license, failure to stop for police, negligent operation of a motor vehicle, assault and battery with a dangerous weapon and leaving the scene of a property damage accident with injuries.
