Top statie’s son faces gun hearing on Cape
The grown son of State Police Col. Christopher Mason faces a show-cause hearing in Barnstable District Court to determine if he improperly stored his guns — but that hearing is being kept secret.
The Cape Cod clerk magistrate’s office said Monday all such hearings are closed to the public. The matter could end there if the clerk determines no offense was committed.
“These are serious allegations,” said Dennis Galvin, president of the Massachusetts Association for
Professional Law Enforcement and a retired State Police major. “It’s unfortunate when it happens to anyone’s kid.”
Cape and Islands District Attorney Michael O’Keefe said in a statement his office has “reviewed a matter referred to me by Barnstable Police on Friday, April 29, 2022.”
He was responding to a Herald request for comment about Reid Mason — but the DA did not identify anyone nor any details in his response.
O’Keefe did state that on May 3 he “made a recommendation to the police to apply for a magistrate’s hearing as to whether or not a complaint should issue with respect to one charge.
“If the magistrate were to issue a complaint the matter would then become a public event and would proceed in the normal course of court proceedings,” O’Keefe added. “Until and unless that occurs, it is inappropriate for my office to identify the subject of the application for complaint.”
Barnstable Police Chief Matthew Sonnabend said in a statement the department is “working continuously” with the DA. He added, “due to restrictions within applicable state law” he cannot comment further.
The Truro firefighter was reportedly found asleep in his car in late February outside a Hyannis restaurant with his guns in the vehicle, sources say. The Herald’s request for the police report has, so far, been denied.