Jair Claridy was found to possess a Hi-Point semi-automatic handgun, police said.
A woman and child walk behind Rowan Towers on 620 West State in Trenton. TRENTON — A gun possession suspect who jogged past one officer last Friday afternoon was caught by another officer working off-duty in a West Ward apartment building, police said.
Around 1:25 p.m., Officer Sammy Gonzalez was called out to the first block of North Hermitage Avenue on a report of a man in possession of a handgun.
When Gonzalez arrived, he spotted a man later identified as 21-year-old city resident Jair Claridy, who fit the description and was jogging away, said Lt. Mark Kieffer, a police spokesman.
With a head start, Claridy was able to jog away a short distance to the Rowan Towers high-rise apartment complex on the 600 block of West State Street. But that took him directly to Officer Sheehan Miles, who was working an off-duty security job in the Towers.
As soon as Miles went to arrest him, Claridy yelled he had just been shot at and had done nothing wrong. A pat frisk revealed a Hi-Point semi-automatic handgun in Claridy’s right front pants pocket, Kieffer said.
Police seized the gun and charged Claridy with unlawful possession of a handgun, defaced handgun, certain persons not to possess a weapon and an outstanding warrant.
No shooting calls were reported for the area around North Hermitage Avenue in that time frame, but police say it’s possible one happened but went unreported.
Anyone with information on this crime or other incidents should call the Trenton Police Department at (609) 989-4170, or the Confidential Tip Line at (609) 989-3663.
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