Trenton police officers arrested a 21-year-old city man Friday on charges he was toting a handgun loaded with an illegal number of bullets. It’s his second such arrest since August.
James Diggs III, 21, ran from officers moments after someone reported a man with his description apparently carrying a large handgun on the 800 block of East State Street at about 12 p.m., police said.
Patrol Officer James Bruins was the first to see Diggs and arrested him with Officer Gianni Zappley, a member of the Violent Crime Rapid Response unit, who also responded to the call. According to police, the officers saw Diggs toss a firearm as he ran, moments before Zappley caught and tackled him in the 900 block of East State Street.
Officers located the 9-millimeter handgun and found it loaded with a magazine that can hold up to 40 bullets, a crime in New Jersey.
Diggs is charged with illegally possessing a firearm, possessing a large-capacity magazine and possessing hollow-point ammunition, as well as eluding police and obstructing justice.
On Aug. 22, 2019, a New Jersey State Police trooper pulled over a vehicle Diggs was driving on Chambers Street in Hamilton and found him with a .40-caliber handgun, the state police said last year. That gun also a large-capacity magazine.
That case is still pending in Superior Court, records show. Diggs is currently jailed at the Mercer County Correction Center awaiting a court appearance.
Kevin Shea may be reached at kshea@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @kevintshea.
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