Police ID Suspects in Monday Night Car Chase and Manhunt

Police arrested Avis Medrano, 23, of 9 Carney Court., Charlestown, and Alexis Gonzalez, 20, of 33 Carney Court, Charlestown, after the men led officers on a car chase through Somerville and Medford Monday night.

A third suspect, a 15-year-old male from Charlestown, was also arrested, according to a Somerville police report.

The report says a fourth suspect remained at large, and Deputy Chief Paul Upton of the Somerville Police Department said police are "continuing to investigate" information about the fourth suspect.

The police report provides some details about what happened Monday night when police set up a perimeter in the residential neighborhood of Powder House Boulevard and Leonard Street—next to the Tufts University campus in West Somerville—and conducted an organized search for the suspects with help from a state police helicopter and K9s.

The scene, particularly the low-flying helicopter that shined its searchlight into backyards throughout the neighborhood, drew attention from residents in this normally quiet area.

Shots fired

The incident started shortly after 9 p.m. when police received reports of several gunshots having been fired in the area of Gilman Street, near McGrath Highway in East Somerville.

A witness said two men involved in the shooting got into a white Subaru and fled the scene, according to the report.

An officer soon saw the car driving westbound on Broadway without its headlights on, and a pursuit began, the report says.

Car chase

A police cruiser followed the Subraru, which sped down Broadway into Ball Square, took a right onto Boston Avenue into Medford, left onto Dearborn Road and Bromfield Road (driving the wrong way), then onto Warner Street and Powder House Boulevard in Somerville, according to the report.

The report says the car stopped at the corner of Powder House Boulevard and Leonard Street, near the Powder House Rotary, and the suspects in the car fled on foot into the neighborhood.

Short manhunt

Several police units from the Somerville and Medford Police departments created a perimeter around the neighborhood, and officers began to search for the suspects, the report says. Massachusetts State Police also helped conduct the search.

According to the report:

• An officer saw a pair of feet under the porch at 37 Leonard St., where police discovered the 15-year-old suspect
• Another officer found Gonzalez hiding in the garage of 47 Walker St.
• Somerville police officer John Tam and his K9, Max, discovered a scent in the back yard of 44 Powder House Blvd., and they found Medrano hiding under the rear porch at that address
• Medrano directed officers to the location of a handgun—a .22 Ruger pistol with a round in the chamber—that was located at 55 Walker St.
• Police discovered a black sweatshirt in the back yard of 37 Burnham St.

The suspects were arrested without incident and charged with carrying a firearm without a license, having ammunition without a firearm ID card, and discharging a firearm within 500 feet of a building.

Please remember that allegations contained in police reports do not indicate a conviction.

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Reports: Suspects Caught After Car Chase and Shots Fired