Blaz aide nab
Qns. cops find gun in car she was sitting in
AN OFF-DUTY bigwig in the mayor’s Office of Criminal Justice was busted in Queens after cops found a gun in a car she was sitting in, authorities said Sunday.
Reagan Stevens, 42, the deputy director of youth and strategic initiatives, was sitting in the back of a parked 2002 Infiniti with two men on 107th St. near 106th Ave. in Jamaica when a nearby ShotSpotter detected five shots fired about 10:20 p.m. Saturday.
Cops searched the Infiniti and discovered a 9-mm. gun in the glove compartment with a serial number scratched off — an additional offense — and a single spent shell casing.
The gun, which carries an eight-round clip, contained three rounds when police discovered it, according to a law enforcement source.
Nobody in the vehicle would admit to owning the gun, so all three were arrested, authorities said. Police were investigating whether the weapon was responsible for setting off the ShotSpotter alert.
A witness heard the shots and saw a maroon vehicle driving away, and video showed muzzle flashes coming from a vehicle with a sunroof.
The trio’s car was maroon and had a sunroof, prosecutors said. It also smelled of pot, prosecutors alleged.
Stevens was charged with two counts of criminal possession of a weapon.
The two men she was with — Caesar Forbes, the 25-year-old driver of the Infiniti, and Montel Hughes, 24 — were both hit with an additional charge for allegedly carrying knives. Forbes admitted he owned the car, prosecutors said.
Stevens has one prior arrest in 2017, which is sealed, authorities said.
Stevens’ lawyer, Michael Gaffey, said she didn’t know anything about the gun.
“She’s in the backseat. Not only is the gun is the glove compartment, its secreted in some kind of velvet bag,” Gaffey said.
Judge Toni Cimino ordered Stevens released without bail. The judge set Forbes’ bail at $7,500 bond or $3,500 cash, and Hughes’ at $20,000 bond or $10,000 cash.
In a statement to the Daily News on Sunday, a spokesman for the Mayor’s Office of Criminal Justice office confirmed Stevens’ suspension.
“The employee has been suspended immediately without pay pending investigation,” Patrick Gallahue said. “We take these allegations very seriously.”
On its website, the Mayor’s Office of Criminal Justice describes itself as the “chief adviser on public safety strategy.”
Stevens, who lives in Brooklyn, primarily works on the implementation of the Raise the Age bill signed into law last year by Gov. Cuomo, according to a city website. By October 2019, the state will no longer automatically prosecute all 16- and 17-yearolds as adults.
Her annual salary $90,000, according records.
Stevens hid her face from reporters and said nothing as she walked out of the courtroom Sunday night. is about to city