HARTFORD — A city man was arrested after an officer spotted a gun handle protruding from under the backseat of a car he was in during a weekend traffic stop.
Michael Foster, 22, of East Euclid Street, who was a backseat passenger, eventually said the gun was his and was charged with carrying a pistol without a permit and weapons in vehicles, police said. His bail was set at $300,000.
Police seized the handgun, a Johnson Model 55, .22-caliber revolver. The weapon had seven live rounds and one spent shell, police said.
According to police, the arrest happened early Saturday morning in the area of 185 Asylum St., where the police department’s Central Conditions Unit was conducting motor vehicle stops.
The fact that the car had heavily tinted windows prompted an officer to order a backseat passenger to lower the window, police said. The passenger didn’t but instead opened the door, which is when the officer noticed the handle, they said.
All of the passengers at first claimed they were not responsible for bringing the gun, but Foster eventually claimed it was his, police said.