Fugitive Found With Stolen Gun, Arrested: Meriden Police

MERIDEN, CT — A man who was wanted as a fugitive from justice out of Florida was found with a stolen gun and arrested early Friday morning in Meriden, according to police.

Police responded around 1 a.m. to the 100 block of Gravel Street on the report of a suspicious vehicle. Arriving officers found an unresponsive man in the driver’s seat, according to police.

The man, later identified as 30-year-old Josue Vazquez, soon became responsive with the help of Meriden Fire Department personnel and EMS crew members, according to police.

Police said Vazquez was removed from the vehicle and indicated that he had “passed out after smoking marijuana with an unidentified female.”

As officers were speaking with Vazquez, police said he began “exhibiting suspicious behavior” and eventually ran away from the officers who were talking with him.

“As he ran away, officers attempted to prevent him from doing so; however, Vazquez slipped out of his jacket and continued running,” police wrote in a news release. “He was apprehended almost immediately and he was found to be in possession of a loaded .380 caliber handgun which would prove to be stolen out of the State of Texas.”

A records check found that Vazquez was wanted as a fugitive of justice out of Florida and he was in violation of probation on original weapons and drug charges in Florida, according to police.

Vazquez was arrested and charged with interfering, criminal possession of a firearm, carrying a firearm without a permit, illegal possession of a firearm in a motor vehicle, and stealing a firearm. He was held in lieu of a $250,000 bond with a court date of Oct. 13.

Police said he was also charged as a fugitive from justice and will be extradited to Florida.