Illegal Gun Possession Arrests Lead to Seizure of Pistols

Photos courtesy of Stamford Police. From left, Tariq Andino; Charles Barnes; the Beretta and bullets seized from Troy Baker earlier this week.

The arrest of a Stamford man on gun-related charges this week is the latest in a series of arrests and confiscation of handguns that Stamford Police say they hope will reduce the gunplay in the city.

It was about 9:30 a.m. Jan. 13 when 15 members of the department’s Special Response Team surrounded the West Main Street apartment building where a 20-year-old suspect lives, according to Capt. Richard Conklin. Knowing that the suspect had a handgun inside the apartment, officers called Tariq Andino out of the apartment, Conklin said.

Police seized a .40-caliber Smith and Wesson semi-automatic handgun loaded with an illegal 14-shot magazine that Andino hid beneath the bed of his six-year-old sister, according to Conklin. Police also seized 38 additional .40-caliber and .45-caliber bullets.

According to Conklin, the gun was reported stolen during a robbery of a Washington, NC pawn shop last year in which 31 guns were taken. Stamford investigators are working with North Carolina authorities to determine how the gun was brought to Stamford.

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Andino is being held on $125,000 bond set on charges of theft of a firearm, possession of a firearm without a permit, illegal storage of a firearm, possession of a large capacity magazine. This is Andino’s second brush with police for illegal firearms possession. He was arrested by Wilton Police on similar charges on Nov. 21.

More gun arrests

Andino’s arrest came two days after Stamford Police arrested Troy Baker, 34, of Bridgeport, by police investigating a report of shots fired about 10:30 p.m. in the area of West Main Street and Tresser Boulevard.

Police recovered another .40-caliber semi-automatic handgun. Baker, who was charged with illegal alteration of a firearm identification, illegal discharge of a firearm, illegal possession of a large capacity magazine, interfering with police, criminal possession of a pistol and first-degree reckless endangerment, is being held on a $500,000 bond.

According to Conklin, police have arrested a total of 10 suspects for illegal gun possession during the past month and that the spate of shootings that have plagued the city the last two months has subsided somewhat.

Another high profile arrest involved “officers piecing together snippets of information,” Conklin said. Some of that information included the type of car the suspect drove and that he would spend nights at his mother’s apartment on the city’s West Side.

After more than six hours of surveillance on Dec. 29, detectives found the car and waited for the suspect to return to it. Investigators arrested Charles Barnes and seized a Baretta handgun with a laser sight and 17 rounds of ammunition, Conklin said.

Barnes was charged with criminal possession of a pistol, illegal possession of a large capacity magazine, illegal possession of a firearm in a motor vehicle, possession of a controlled substance, possession of a controlled substance with intent to sell and operating a motor vehicle without a license.

Barnes remains in custody, unable to post $250,000 bond.