Andover Speeding Arrest Leads to Drugs, Gun Charges

A routine traffic stop for Andover Police turned into a lot more than they were expecting. It resulted in police arresting a Mattapan man on 10 charges including three drug charges, three illegal gun charges and one felony gun charge.

Police arrested 27-year-old Joe J. Derat of Mattapan for speeding on River Road. Investigators say Derat was driving without a license, gave them a false name, and said he was “unsure” when asked to give his date of birth.

Derat was traveling with a female passenger, who also did not have a license, and a child in the back seat of the car. That led police to search the car.

Inside, officers said they found six oxycodone pills. The female passenger then told police that she, Derat and the child were staying at a nearby hotel and gave officers permission to search the room, where she said Derat was possibly keeping an illegal firearm.

Although the firearm was not found in the hotel room, Andover detectives say they found 10 ounces of marijuana, close to 19 grams of cocaine, and nearly $2,200 in cash.

After obtaining a search warrant from Lawrence District Court, officers searched Derat’s car and found a 9 mm Sig Sauer handgun, loaded with 13 rounds of ammunition.

Derat faces the following charges: a speeding violation, operating a vehicle with a revoked license, providing a false name to police, possession of cocaine with intent to distribute, possession of marijuana with intent to distribute, possession of Oxycodone with intent to distribute, possession of a firearm without a license, possession of ammunition without an FID card, possession of a large capacity feeding device and firearm use in a felony.