Yesterday afternoon around 12:19PM, officers from the Youth Violence Task Force (Gang Unit) were on patrol in the Franklin Hill area, which had construction crews on the street, when they observed a car being driven at an excessive speed in light of the construction.
Officers conducted a traffic stop in the rear of 56 Franklin Hill Ave. and there approached the occupants of the car. During the traffic stop, officers spoke to both occupants of the car and noticed that the passenger was nervous and never made eye contact with officers and instead looked down and back and forth. Officers engaged the passenger in conversation during the time that the operator’s information was being processed and noticed a black metallic object sticking out from underneath his buttocks, and also a container with BB pellets in the car. Based on the totality of circumstances, officers fearing that the passenger may be armed asked him to exit the car at which point a partially open knife fell from underneath him.
Once the suspect got out of the car, officers surveyed the car and observed a noticed a pair of gray shorts on the back seat wrapped up in a ball with the handle of what appeared to be a firearm sticking out of it. Officers placed both occupants of the car in handcuffs after confirming that this indeed was a firearm and both stated that they did not have a license to carry a firearm. Suspects, Charles Whittington, 33 of Dorchester and Anthony Silva, 33 of Dedham were arrested and charged with Unlawful Possession of a Firearm. Suspect Silva, the operator of the car was additionally cited for Speeding.