New Bedford man turned away from after-hours club in Providence facing gun charges
PROVIDENCE — A patrolman’s investigation of activity at an after-hours club led to the arrest early Saturday morning of a New Bedford man, who is being charged with three counts of possession of a firearm without a license, said police.
Mark Verdejo, 26, was arrested and three handguns were seized after Patrolman Mathew Sandorse stopped the car Verdejo was driving at about 3 a.m., according to Police Cmdr. Thomas Verdi.
Sandorse was monitoring activity at an after-hours club at 221 Burnside Ave. when he saw a man, later identified as Verdejo, get turned away at the door.
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The man appeared to be carrying something heavy in the front pocket of his sweatshirt, Sandorse said in his report. The club has been associated with “numerous recent firearms-related incidents and arrests.”
Sandorse watched the man get into a car with three other men and drive off.
“Due to the previous actions of the driver, and the known establishment he was coming out of, I conducted a traffic stop for investigation” at Thurbers Avenue and Eddy Street, Sandorse reported.
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A search of the car uncovered a .40-caliber Glock handgun with eight rounds in the magazine and one round in the chamber; a second Glock .40-caliber pistol with six rounds in the magazine and one round in the chamber; and a Canik 9-mm pistol with 10 rounds in the magazine.
Verdejo appeared before the bail commissioner Saturday and posted $2,500 cash bail and was released pending arraignment in District Court.
The three other men in the car were not charged, police said.
tmooney@providencejournal.com.
This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Providence police: Mark Verdejo of New Bedford, MA faces gun charges
