2 Guns Seized After Altercation At Hookah Lounge In Manchester

MANCHESTER, CT — Two people remained in custody on six-figure bonds Tuesday morning after Manchester police confiscated a pair of handguns during a weekend altercation at a local smoking lounge.

Just before 3 a.m. Sunday, officers responded to the Empire Hookah Lounge at 397 Broad Street after being alerted to an active fight. Just before police arrived, a group of people fled the establishment in a vehicle while one of them displayed a gun, according to an incident report.

The vehicle was quickly intercepted, and three were arrested, according to an incident report. Two of them, 23-year-old Richard Ortiz and 31-year-old Wesley Vazquez-Santana, both of Meriden, were in possession of the guns. A third occupant of the vehicle, 22-year-old Desmond Davis, was determined to have two active warrants for his arrest and was later turned over to Newington police on the warrants, police said.

Police records show that charges against Ortiz include second-degree breach of peace, second-degree reckless endangerment, first-degree threatening, criminal possession of a firearm and illegal possession of a large-capacity magazine. He was being held on a $250,000 bond and was to appear in court Tuesday.

Vazquez-Santana was being held in a $100,000 bond and was to appear n court Tuesday as well. His charges include second-degree breach of peace, criminal possession of a firearm, illegal possession of a large-capacity magazine and possession of a controlled substance.

Manchester police released an image of the guns: