Family Dispute Leads To Weapons Charge

A woman's attempt to store some of her boyfriend's belongings at her parents' home triggered a family dispute that resulted in the woman being arrested for allegedly displaying a handgun, police said.

Officers were dispatched to a residence at 29 1/2 Oxford St. at about 5 p.m. on a report of a disturbance. When they arrived they reported encountering a woman in the street screaming that someone has a gun.

The officers said there were about ten people on the front lawn of the house, and one or more of them pointed to a woman they said had earlier had gun. At about that time, a male came out from a side yard of the house and police ordered him to display his hands.

The officers were advised the gun may have been hidden behind the house, and an officer reported finding one there, identified as a Lorcin .380 caliber pistol with a magazine contain six rounds.

The woman eventually charged as a result of the incident, Ashley Franklin, told the officers she was bringing some of her boyfriend's belongings to the house, where she also lives, and accidently bumped into a another woman. That woman, Franklin said, then punched her in the face.

The woman who reportedly threw the punch told the officers that Franklin's mother, who died a week ago, forbid Franklin's boyfriend from being in the house. The boyfriend was also there, and the officers were told various members of the family got into dispute over his presence and whether his belongings should be brought into the house.

After being punched, Franklin allegedly went into the house and came back outside with a handgun. After inserting an ammunition magazine into the gun, she asked the woman who punched her if, in effect, she wanted to continue the fight.

Franklin then handed the gun to her boyfriend, who apparently placed it behind the house.

The officers spoke with Franklin's father, who told them the two women had been fighting, that he had helped separate them, and that his daughter did bring a handgun outside, but didn't threaten anyone with it.

Franklin allegedly told police she got the gun because she was angry, but didn't know how to use it.

Franklin, 23, was charged with carrying a gun without a permit, first-degree reckless endangerment, and breach of peace. She was held in lieu of $20,000 bond and was to be arraigned in Superior Court in Norwalk Monday.

Police said that, following her arrest, someone from her house called police take away two more firearms.