Man faces drug, gun charges after fleeing from cops

A New Britain man was arrested on several charges after police allegedly found two handguns and quantities of fentanyl, heroin, cocaine and crack cocaine in his car on Thursday night in Hartford, according to police.

Hartford Police Department officers saw an Infiniti QX80 that had previously fled multiple motor vehicle stop attempts on Thursday around 10:20 p.m. Police attempted to pull the vehicle over, but it again refused to stop. The officers deployed stop sticks as the Infiniti got onto Interstate 84 West and followed the car until it stopped near Exit 44, police said.

Two people exited the Infiniti and attempted to flee on foot. Police were able to get the driver in custody, but the other occupant evaded arrest, police said.

Police said they searched the vehicle and allegedly found two 9-millimeter handguns, 930 wax paper sleeves of a fentanyl and heroin mixture, 39 capsules of crack cocaine, over 26 grams of crack cocaine, nearly 20 grams of raw fentanyl, nearly six grams of powdered cocaine and over $550 in cash.

One of the handguns was reported stolen out of South Windsor in 2021, police said.

The driver was identified as Johnny Rodriguez, 26, of New Britain. He was charged with two counts of criminal possession of a firearm, two counts of possession of a pistol without a permit, two counts of weapons in a motor vehicle, possession of a stolen firearm, two counts of possession of a high-capacity magazine, two counts of possession of narcotics with intent to sell, two counts of possession of narcotics, interfering with an officer, disobeying an officers signal and failure to obey a stop sign.