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New York man arrested with loaded gun at South Station

E-mail|Link|Comments () June 10, 2010 04:00 PM

By Shana Wickett, Globe Correspondent

A 19-year-old New York man is facing charges that he had a loaded gun in his backpack at South Station, police said.

A transit police officer approached Drake Scott of Henrietta, N.Y., shortly after 9 a.m. Wednesday as he slept on a bench, using his backpack as a pillow, according to a police report. After Scott woke up and pulled his headphones out of his ears, he slid the backpack behind him.

The officer, who said he was making a "health and welfare" check, asked Scott if he did drugs. Scott allegedly said he smoked marijuana. The officer then asked Scott if he had any in his backpack. Scott said no and allegedly began opening pockets of the backpack. When Scott opened one, an object could be seen poking at the fabric from the inside of another pocket, the MBTA Transit Police officer said in a report.

"I asked Scott 'What is that?' and pointed to the object pushing against the cloth," the officer wrote. "He stated 'What is what?' I then leaned forward and touched the bulge in the cloth."

That bulge felt like a gun, the officer wrote. He and another officer handcuffed Scott and pulled a loaded .380-caliber handgun wrapped in a red bandana out of the backpack.

"It's not unusual, but we do not get a lot of guns in this fashion," said MBTA Transit Police Deputy Chief Lewis Best. "He was in a public place with a firearm, and obviously that's a very dangerous situation. But these officers were very diligent in their patrol. They did an outstanding job."

Scott pleaded not guilty this morning at Boston Municipal Court to charges of unlawful possession of a firearm and unlawful possession of ammunition, said Jake Wark, spokesman for the Suffolk County district attorney’s office.

Scott is being held on $25,000 cash bail and is scheduled to appear in court again on July 6.