Credit: Tom Sofield/LevittownNow.com
A man is accused of ditching a handgun with an extended magazine inside a car while fleeing a rowdy street gathering in Bristol Borough last month.
Advertisements
Auprel McLean Jr., 22, of Bristol Township’s Levittown section, was arrested after a police investigation that linked him to the discarded weapon through recorded jailhouse video calls.
Borough police responded late at night on Friday, April 10, to reports of a disorderly group drinking on a sidewalk along Spruce Street.
Officers arriving at he scene found eight to 10 people gathered around a white Kia that was playing music loud enough to be heard from a block away, police said.
Advertisements
As officers approached, the group scattered on foot and in vehicles, police said.
During the commotion, officers reported seeing a man dive into the rear of the Kia and remove a tan firearm with an extended magazine from his waistband, police said.
Advertisements
Investigators said the man hid the weapon under the front passenger seat before jumping into a white SUV, which sped away traveling onto Headley Street.
Officers searched the area to look for the man who fled, police said.
The suspect escaped the area, but two officers noted he appeared to be an individual they had encountered on a previous call months ago, police said.
Advertisements
Authorities impounded the Kia and obtained a search warrant on it, police said.
In court papers, police reported finding a black and tan Geisler semi-automatic gun equipped with a light/laser sight and an extended magazine containing 28 rounds, two counterfeit Pennsylvania inspection and emission stickers, a marijuana/THC vape device and rolling papers, and a bottle of DayQuil.
Advertisements
The break in the case came on April 13d when a Lansdale Borough, Montgomery County, police detective notified Bristol Borough police about a recorded communication from a Montgomery County jail.
According to the Lansdale Borough investigator, McLean was captured on a recorded line discussing the April 10 incident with an inmate.
Advertisements
Borough police were also provided with still images from a separate January video call at the Berks County Jail, which allegedly showed McLean holding what appeared to be the same gun recovered from the Kia, according to police.
McLean was taken into custody in mid-April and arraigned before District Judge David Chichilitti on charges of firearms not to be carried without a license, flight to avoid apprehension, possession of an instrument of crime, tampering with physical evidence, and disorderly conduct. He was remanded to the Bucks County Correctional Facility on 10 percent of $150,000 bail.
Editor’s Note: All individuals arrested or charged with a crime are presumed innocent until proven guilty. The story was compiled using information from police and public court documents.
