Yesterday evening around 8:00PM, members of the Youth Violence Strike Force (Gang Unit) arrested suspect, Aylis H. Dryden, 24, of Mattapan and charged him with Unlawful Possession of a Firearm, Unlawful Possession of Ammunition, Receiving Stolen Property and Being an Armed Career Criminal.
This arrest was initiated when officers were patrolling the Heath Street Development and observed a group of 20-30 people gathered outside of 49 Horan Way. The group consisted of both males and females, many of whom were drinking alcoholic beverages. Officers approached the group from two opposing directions and as they neared the group, they heard a female member of the group exclaim, “Hey, hey! Here come the police!” Almost immediately after officers overheard this statement, the suspect appeared alarmed and immediately began to walk away from the group and as he did so, he made an adjustment to his waist area. As the suspect continued to walk away, officers again notice that he was making adjustments to his waist much like the “characteristics of an armed gunman.” Officers have attended trainings where they are taught to recognize certain characteristics of a person carrying a gun, and based on training formed the opinion that the suspect was armed. As the suspect walked away from the group, not realizing that there were some other officers in the opposite direction, he met up with an officer.
The officer encountered the suspect and expressed his concern that the suspect was armed to him. The suspect, appearing very nervous, lifted up his shirt in an attempt to allay the officer’s concern but did so only partially. The officer, feigned, that he was satisfied with the suspect’s actions and neared the suspect enough that he was able to retrieve the gun from the suspect’s waistband. The suspect broke free from the officer after the gun was taken from him but was caught after a brief pursuit.
The suspect was arrested and charged with the above offenses. The gun was discovered to have been reported stolen.