Meriden Teen Charged In Southington With Several Weapons Charges

SOUTHINGTON, CT — An 18-year-old Meriden man was charged by Southington police Monday with several illegal gun charges after being found hiding under blankets at a local motel.

Southington police Tuesday morning said Angel Aviles, 18, of Meriden, was charged with: two counts of possession of a high-capacity magazine; two counts of carrying a pistol without a permit; two counts of unlawful storage of a firearm; theft of a firearm; two counts of risk of injury to a minor; and possession of a ghost gun.

Police said Aviles was held on $500,000 bond and is expected to appear in New Britain Superior Court Wednesday, Dec. 13.

In a detailed chronology of the arrest, Southington police said at about 2:02 p.m. Monday, the Southington Police Department's Auto Theft Task Force and Patrol Division were "conducting proactive police work" at the Motel 6, 625 Queen St.

While there, police said they noticed a "suspicious motor vehicle" parked at the motel, a 2008 BMW 335Xi.

Police said the BMW had illegal window tints and the color of the vehicle was different from the vehicle's registration.

According to police, the BMW had fled away from another police department Dec. 5 and it had an incorrect license plate, prompting police to believe it was stolen.

Southington police said they then saw a juvenile male unlock the driver's side door of the BMW with a key and he was detained as officers investigated the inaccurate registration.

This was when police learned associates of the juvenile were still there in a motel room.

Officers then came into contact with two others associated with the juvenile, one being a female juvenile, who exited the room without incident.

Police said officers then asked if anyone else was in the motel room.

It was then that a suspect, later identified as Aviles, emerged from hiding under blankets on a bed inside the room, police said.

After detaining Aviles, police said officers noticed three loose rounds of handgun ammunition in the area of the bed.

Police said they then found two firearms with "extended magazines" hidden underneath the mattress of the bed Aviles was laying on.

Southington police said one gun was stolen out of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department in North Carolina.

The other gun was determined, police said, to be a so-called "ghost gun" with no records in the firearms registry.