Crime Tip Leads To Arrest, Recovery Of 2 Illegal Guns And Drugs: Stamford PD

STAMFORD, CT — Thanks to information received through the Stamford Police Crime & Gun Stoppers tip line, police said they arrested a 31-year-old man last week and recovered two illegal guns and fentanyl.

Kevin Llewellyn was arrested on July 20 around 6:20 p.m. and charged with two counts of criminal possession of a firearm; criminal possession of ammunition; illegal possession of a high-capacity magazine; theft of a firearm; possession of narcotics; and interfering with police, according to Assistant Stamford Police Chief Richard Conklin. Llewellyn did not provide a home address to police.

Llewellyn, who could not post a $150,000 bond, was arraigned in Stamford Superior Court on Monday where his bond was raised to $300,000. He was taken to the Bridgeport Correctional Center.

On July 20, the Stamford Police Department's Narcotics & Organized Crime Squad received a tip that Llewellyn was on the West Side in the area of West Main Street and Rose Park Avenue and was in possession of a gun, Conklin said.

Officers, with help from the patrol division and K9 unit, responded to the area immediately and found Llewellyn near Rose Park Avenue and Richmond Hill Avenue, Conklin noted.

"He was wearing a fanny pack, and as they approached him he started to back up and put his hand toward the fanny pack. After a brief struggle, they detained him," Conklin added.

Officers found two guns inside the fanny pack -- a loaded Taurus .9mm semi-automatic handgun with a high-capacity magazine, and a loaded 1911 Rock Island Armory .45 caliber semi-automatic handgun, as well as a single .45 caliber round, according to Conklin.

At police headquarters, a serial number search showed the Taurus handgun was reported stolen out of North Carolina, Conklin said, noting the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department listed it stolen in March 2022.

Conklin stressed that Llewellyn was charged for theft of a firearm because he was in possession of the weapon at the time of his arrest.

Additionally in the fanny pack, officers found 11.5 grams of "pink-tinged" fentanyl, a new variation of the drug that's currently prevalent in the New York City area, Conklin said.

Conklin praised the SPD's Crime & Gun Stoppers Tip Line. Police give $1,000 awards to reporting parties for successful illegal gun arrests. The money is raised by the Stamford Police Foundation, and doesn't come out of the city's or department's budget.

"It's a very successful program, and it's led over the years to numerous arrests. It just keeps working," Conklin said. "Kudos to our Narcotics and Organized Crime Squad who really have taken this to another level, working these gun cases. I feel that this is certainly a cornerstone in the safety of our city -- these active and proactive arrests on illegal guns. If you look at our shootings compared to other cities, they're substantially lower and this is just another example of why that is."

The Stamford Police Crime & Gun Stoppers is 203-977-TIPS.