Springfield man faces several charges linked to stolen weapon

By Owen Boss

Staff Writer

AMHERST - UMass police say a Springfield man who discarded a loaded firearm while being pursued by officers early Saturday morning unwittingly led them to the stolen gun after being bailed out of jail the following morning.

Lamont Thomas, 20, of Springfield, pleaded innocent Monday in Eastern Hampshire District Court to charges of carrying a firearm on school grounds, carrying a firearm without a license, receiving stolen property over $250, and possessing an unregistered firearm.

Thomas is not enrolled as a student at the University of Massachusetts in Amherst.

At 3:22 a.m. Saturday, officer Jonathan Hall responded to an on-campus disturbance where witnesses claimed Thomas had brandished a handgun, cocking it to show it was loaded. Witnesses on scene led police to Thomas, who was arrested for disorderly conduct after a brief foot pursuit.

Although officers were unable to locate the weapon, they believed that Thomas had discarded it during the chase, according to court documents.

At 5:30 a.m., after being released on bail from the UMass Police Department, Hall followed Thomas to a grass embankment near Patterson dormitory and saw him searching through two bushes on the east side of the building.

When approached, Thomas reportedly told Hall he was just looking for his car keys and began acting "nervous and had difficulty standing in one place," according to court documents.

After issuing Thomas a trespassing notice and telling him to leave the area, Hall reportedly found an unsecured and loaded AMT Automag 2 pistol with a silver slide, a round in the chamber and seven more in the magazine. UMass dispatch ran the serial number found on the gun against the National Crime Information Center's database and found that it had been reported stolen out of Sidney, N.Y., in 1978.

Thomas was subsequently summoned to appear Monday. Judge John Payne Jr. released Thomas on his own recognizance and scheduled him to appear in court for a pretrial hearing on May 10.

Owen Boss can be reached at oboss@gazettenet.com.