Traffic stop for littering ends in firearm charge

LYNN – A city man was held on $10,000 cash Wednesday after police stopped a driver for littering and found the passenger carrying a loaded gun despite a recent firearms-related arrest in Cambridge.But the man’s attorney questioned the legality of the stop.”The entire premise of taking (the defendant) out of the vehicle was a prior firearms charge that was not in the (Lynn) Police’s jurisdiction,” court-appointed Defense Attorney Arthur Carakatsane said in Lynn District Court Wednesday.Alexander Villar, 23, of 56 Murray St. #3, was arrested and charged with carrying a loaded firearm without a license; carrying a firearm without a license; and possession of a firearm with a prior violent/drug crime; on Tuesday. Villar was arraigned on the charge in Lynn District Court Wednesday where a plea of not guilty was entered on his behalf.Undercover Lynn Police officers were following the car in which Villar was a passenger when they saw the driver “throw several pieces of paper” out the window, according to a report by Lynn Police Officer Stephen Withrow. Police stopped the vehicle, and an officer reported the passenger “moved his hand out of sight” when he noticed another officer at the window, according to the report.Police told the passenger – whom an officer recognized as Villar and who officers knew had recently been arrested for a gun charge – to get out of the vehicle, according to the report. The officers found Villar carrying a .380-caliber semi-automatic handgun with three live rounds in the magazine and one live round in the chamber, according to police. Villar told police, and police confirmed, he did not have a license to carry or a firearms identification card.Assistant District Attorney Aimee Conway told the court Villar’s record included “multiple firearms-related offenses,” he was currently on probation out of Salem and had served committed time. Conway requested Villar be held on $10,000 cash bail and the court revoke his bail on a 2012 case where he is charged with receiving stolen property.Carakatsane said the prior firearms charge referenced by prosecutors was dropped a month ago and “the vast, vast majority” of charges on Villar’s record were motor vehicle related. He requested a $500 cash bail and the judge not revoke bail on the open case.Judge James Wexler denied the request to revoke bail, but ordered $10,000 cash bail for the new charges.Villar is scheduled to return to court Oct. 8.The vehicle’s driver will be issued a summons for suspected illegal prescription drugs, according to the report.Police said she was also cited for littering.