Kajai Bethea of Springfield facing weapons charges; found with stolen gun after fleeing police

Kajai Bethea

Kajai Bethea

SPRINGFIELD - A 19-year-old city man is facing unlawful weapons charges after he was found with two loaded guns in his backpack after he was apprehended by police Monday during a foot pursuit through Upper Hill, police said.

One of the two guns found in Kajai Bethea’s backpack had previously been reported stolen in Vermont, said police spokesman Ryan Walsh.

Bethea of Bowles Street is charged with 2 counts of carrying a firearm without a license and carrying a loaded firearm without a license. He was also charged with possession of stolen property, improper storage of a firearm, and possession of ammunition without a firearms identification card.

Walsh said Bethea was a passenger in a car that refused to stop for police at Middlesex Avenue and Westford Circle. Police tried to pull it over for a license plate violation.

The car sped through Old Hill and Upper Hill, running several stop signs, to the intersection of Alden and Esther streets, where Bethea jumped out of the vehicle and ran. The car continued off and escaped.

Bethea tossed his backpack in a yard on Alden Street and kept running until he was stopped a few hundred yards down the road at Lakeside and Ina streets. The backpack was recovered and two guns were found inside, Walsh said.

Bethea was scheduled to be arraigned Wednesday in Springfield District Court.

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