Police tracked a car carrying the Springfield men from an altercation outside a Belle Street apartment to the entrance of I-291 westbound, where they were charged with gun crimes and cited for marijuana possession.
Springfield police are investigating why three men allegedly had a loaded gun and a large amount of cash when officers stopped their vehicle early Saturday on the approach to I-291 westbound.SPRINGFIELD -- City police arrested three men on weapons offenses shortly before 3 a.m. Saturday, after acting on a report of a man brandishing a gun outside a Liberty Heights residence.
The men were spotted around 2:52 a.m. at the drive-through window of the McDonald's restaurant at 660 Liberty St., according to police reports. Officers then followed the car to the Liberty Street entrance of Interstate 291 westbound, where police stopped the vehicle on suspicion that its occupants were involved in a prior gun incident on Belle Street.
That's where one of the men reportedly was seen around 2:39 a.m. "waving a gun around" as he attempted to order someone from a Belle Street apartment, Springfield Police Capt. Cheryl C. Clapprood said. Police received a description that the men left that area in a dark-colored four-door sedan via Franklin Street.
Clapprood said the officers found a loaded .45-caliber handgun, some marijuana and "thousands of dollars in cash" inside the car. Police are still investigating why the men had $8,500 in cash that was "wrapped in rubber bands," Clapprood said.
The Springfield men -- Wilson Kuilan Jr. of 75 Avon Place and Nelson Hernandez of 43 Claremont St., both 19, and Ariel Acevedo, 34, of 45 Clyde St. -- will be charged with unlicensed possession of ammunition and a firearm when they are arraigned Monday in Springfield District Court. The men also were cited for marijuana possession, Clapprood said.
"It was a good arrest," the captain said, adding that all three were charged because each pleaded ignorance about the gun, drugs and money allegedly found inside the vehicle.
The case remains under investigation.
THE MAP BELOW shows the approximate location of where Springfield police spotted a car at the Liberty Street McDonald's restaurant before the vehicle attempted to enter I-291 westbound early Saturday morning. Police said the car was carrying three men, a loaded gun and more than $8,000 cash: