Police: Speeding Driver Charged with Gun, Pot Possession

A Melrose man was charged with possession of Marijuana and a 9mm among other charges after he was pulled over for speeding.  

Brookline police were conducting a traffic patrol at 10:20 p.m. on April 9 on Boylston Street when they pulled over a vehicle for speeding.  

According to the police, the vehicle stopped at the driveway of 830 Boylston Street. Officers observed two males in the car. When the officer asked for the driver’s license and registration, the officer reportedly could smell the overwhelming odor of unburnt marijuana.  

The officer reported that when the driver went for the registration in the glove box, the driver’s hand was shaking and the manner in which the diver retrieved the registration made it seem as if he was trying to conceal something in the glove box.  

The officer shined his flashlight on the glove box and could see a jar with multiple packages of marijuana. The officer asked the driver for the jar, which the driver handed over without incident.  

The driver told police that he and the passenger had just finished work in Newton Center and were headed home. Officers issued Miranda Rights to both the driver and the passenger. Officers searched the car and found and found a large Ziploc bag containing several smaller baggies with marijuana in them under the passenger seat.  

While looking under the driver’s seat, officers found a firearm. Officers found a 9mm silver and black Smith and Wesson with a 10 round magazine   Officers ran the serial number through the Criminal Justice Information Services and the National Criminal Information Center databases and found nothing, meaning that the firearm was neither reported lost or stolen.  

Officers arrested the driver, Mohamed Soltani, 22, of 467 Pleasant Street, Melrose, MA, and charged him with possession of a firearm without an FID card, possession of a firearm with a defaced serial number, possession of ammunition, possession of a Class D substance with intent to distribute, possession of a controlled substance within a school zone, conspiracy to violate the drug laws and was issued a citation for possession and for speeding. Officers also charged him with possession of counterfeit bills, which were located in the vehicle.  

The passenger, a minor, was charged with possession of a Class D substance with intent to distribute in a school zone.