By Jim Clark

While on patrol Sunday evening, a police officer received an alert regarding a vehicle traveling near the Clarendon Hill Towers that might belong to an associate of an individual who had an outstanding arrest warrant.

The officer spotted the vehicle in question and, after observing that one of the license plate lights was not functioning, pulled the car over.

The officer reportedly noticed that two of the three occupants of the vehicle, both passengers, were shifting their positions as he prepared to approach the car.

Additional backup units arrived and the officer was advised to exercise caution as it was reported that one of the vehicle’s occupants might be in possession of a weapon.

The investigating officer approached the car and queried the driver, Kayla Decareau, 19, of Everett, for her license. The officer noticed reportedly felt that she and the two male passengers were acting nervous, possibly due to the fact that a strong smell of burned marijuana seemed to be present in the car.

Decareau reportedly told the officer that she only had a learner’s permit and that she was out with her boyfriend, Rudy Umana, 19, who was teaching her to drive.

As the officer inspected the permit and registration documents, he recalled having seen a bulletin about Umana that warned he might be in possession of a firearm.

Out of concern for himself, his fellow officers and nearby residents, the patrolman ordered the occupants out of the car to be searched and questioned. The passenger in the rear of the vehicle was identified as Martin Acosta, 22.

After the car’s passengers were stood at the rear of the vehicle, the officer reportedly spotted what appeared to be the butt end of a pistol sticking out from beneath the backseat of the car. As the gun was retrieved, Umana reportedly turned and ran from the scene, but he was soon apprehended by officers and handcuffed.

None of the car’s occupants admitted to owning the gun, according to reports.

Umana was placed under arrest and charged with resisting arrest, receiving stolen property over $250, carrying a firearm with ammunition, and carrying a firearm without a license. Acosta was placed under arrest and charged with carrying a firearm with ammunition, and carrying a firearm without a license. Decareau was placed under arrest and charged with carrying a firearm with ammunition, carrying a firearm without a license, and miscellaneous equipment violation.

After being taken in for booking, Umana reportedly told police that the gun found in the back belonged to Acosta. He also told police that he himself had hidden another gun under the passenger seat in the front area of the car. Police then reportedly looked for and found the other gun that was determined to have been stolen from Norfolk, VA last year.