Gun, Drugs Found During Motor Vehicle Stop

Two New Haven residents are facing charges after a motor vehicle stop Sunday morning led to the discovery of drugs and a stolen handgun, according to police.

At about 10 a.m. Sunday morning Officer Joseph Liguori of the Hamden Police Department observed a motor vehicle violation on Whitney Avenue, according to police spokesman Capt. Ronald Smith. He stopped the car in the parking lot of a Whitney Avenue service station, Smith said, and when he approached the car, he smelled burning marijuana coming from it. 

The driver, identified as Latisha Toney, 31, of 71 Level St., New Haven and her passenger, Dawud Hill, 31, of 11 Ogdon St., New Haven, were asked to get out of the car, Smith said, so police could search it. 

That search led to the discovery of a stolen Smith and Wesson .357 revolver and a bag containing 18 bullets, Smith said, as well as 31 wax folds of heroin.

Police arrested Toney at the scene, Smith said, but Hill took off, engaging officers in a foot pursuit. North Haven Police caught him in the yard of a Ridgewood Avenue residence, Smith said.

Hill was charged with criminal possession of a firearm, carrying a pistol without a permit, theft of a firearm, possession of narcotics, possession of narcotics with the intent to sell, possession of narcotics within 1,500 feet of a school and possession of narcotics with the intent to sell within 1,500 feet of a school. He was held in lieu of $100,000 bond and is scheduled to appear in Meriden Superior Court on June 26.

Toney was charged with weapons in a motor vehicle, carrying a pistol without a permit, theft of a firearm, possession of narcotics, possession of narcotics with the intent to sell, possession of narcotics within 1,500 feet of a school, possession of narcotics with the intent to sell within 1,500 feet of a school and operating without insurance. She was held in lieu of $50,000 bond and is also scheduled to appear in court on June 26.