Chelsea police arrested a 48-year-old Chelsea man after a foot chase late Saturday night, minutes after a report of shots fired during a fight on Blossom Street, and found a gun under a parked car along the route he ran.
The department described the arrest in a release on Monday, November 9. Officers responded at about 11 p.m. on Saturday, November 7, to a call for shots fired on Blossom Street, near Washington Avenue. Early reports said several men were involved in an altercation involving a firearm.
The chase
Witnesses pointed officers in the direction the suspect had run. Police found him running on Eden Street toward Heard Street, chased him on foot and stopped him on Heard Street. Officers then walked back along the path he had taken and found a discarded firearm underneath a parked vehicle. They secured the scene and took him into custody.
Police identified the man as Omar Arias Soto, 48, of Chelsea.
The charges
- Possession of a firearm without a license to carry
- Possession of ammunition
- Assault with a dangerous weapon
- Assault and battery with a dangerous weapon
- Discharging a firearm within 500 feet of a building
- Possession with intent to distribute a Class B substance
Soto was arraigned in Chelsea District Court on Monday. The release does not give a plea or bail. Charges are allegations, and he is presumed innocent unless proven guilty in court.
One person had superficial injuries to both legs and was taken to Cambridge Health Alliance for evaluation and treatment. Police did not say how the person was hurt. Detectives are still investigating what led to the fight.
“Excellent job by my officers,” Chief Keith Houghton said in the release. “They were able to locate the suspect quickly and also recovered the firearm safely. Chasing someone with a gun is very dangerous, fortunately no one was hurt during the arrest.”
The arrest is the department’s second gun case announced this month. On November 3, Chelsea officers tracked a stolen phone after an assault on Chester Avenue and arrested three people in Salem, where four guns were seized.