2 Men Arrested In Takoma Park For Gun, Drug Possession

TAKOMA PARK, MD — Detectives from the Takoma Park Police Department announced the arrest of two men on a slew of charges including the illegal possession of a firearm, possession of a controlled dangerous substance, possession of marijuana and more.

On the evening of May 16, detectives and officers were patrolling the area of 2 Darwin Ave. in Takoma Park due to a recent increase in strong arm robberies, police said. Officers were in the skatepark and basketball section of the park and smelt "an odor of burnt marijuana emanating" from six individuals in the area, police said.

When police confronted the group, one of the suspects — Demitri Lemaire, 25, of Hyattsville — became verbally offensive towards the officers and lunged at them, police said. Lemaire was placed under arrest for disorderly conduct and failure to obey.

Another subject — Mario Rios, 18, of no fixed address — fled on foot, police said. While he was running, Rios dropped a shoulder bag in the woods that was later retrieved and contained a loaded semi-automatic handgun, an amount of marijuana indicative of an intent to sell, CDS paraphernalia and fake currency, police said. Officers were able to stop Rios in a wooded area between the skatepark and Public Works and discovered he had two outstanding warrants for his arrest from the Commonwealth of Virginia and Montgomery County, police said.

Rios was placed under arrest and charged with possession of CDS with the intent to distribute, disorderly conduct, possession of a handgun on person, possession of detached magazine over 10 round capacity, CDS distribution with a firearm, illegal possession of a firearm and other charges.

Lemaire and Rios were both transported to the Montgomery County Central Processing Unit without incident, police said.

Photos: Rio and Lemaire, Takoma Park Police Department