LAWRENCE — A Lynn man may have brought a loaded Glock 21 .45-caliber, semi-automatic pistol to Lawrence on Sunday, but he didn't leave with it.
Capt. David Kelley and Officer Jaime Adames were on patrol on Essex Street near Hampshire Street about 12:16 a.m. when they heard four or five gunshots coming from the Franklin and Common streets area.
They arrived to find two men walking on Franklin Street in opposite directions. One man, dressed in black, turned back when he saw police, opened the door of a black car and put something inside. Then, he took off running, and emerged near the Post Office on Common Street, but continued to run, heading north on Hampshire Street, until Adames and officers Ivan Melendez, William Olivieri and Harold Rogers caught him.
He fought police, who arrested him.
Police found five spent shell casings on the sidewalk and street near the black car, and the gun under the seat.
Sokhanara Chea, 21, received scratches to his face and a fat lip during his struggle with police.
Police say Chea fired the gun into the air outside 19 Franklin St., and his breath smelled of alcohol.
Chea was charged with possession of a loaded firearm, carrying a firearm without a license, leaving a firearm in an unattended vehicle, discharging a firearm within 500 feet of a building and disorderly conduct. He was also charged with a firearms violation with one prior violent or drug conviction, possession of a large capacity firearm, improper securing of a large capacity firearm near a minor and illegal possession of ammunition.
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