Officers seize gun after car smashes police cruiser in Severn
21-year-old Odenton man facing 5 firearms charges following Tuesday incident
After an Odenton man smashed into an Anne Arundel County police car Tuesday in a Severn neighborhood recently afflicted by gun violence, police say they seized a loaded handgun found under the front seat.
Brenton Bradley Josiah Fairnot, 21, was charged with five firearms offenses, including possessing a handgun despite having been convicted of a felony, online court records show.
Fairnot does not have an attorney listed in court records. He is being held without bond.
Officers were patrolling the Stillmeadows townhouse complex Tuesday night as part of an increased enforcement effort in the area following a spate of gun violence, said Sgt. Jacklyn Davis, police spokeswoman.
She said it is a standard step any time gunfire breaks out in a community.
Around 9 p.m., officers saw a vehicle driving erratically near the intersection of Jacobs Road and Stillmeadows Drive, one of two entry points in the neighborhood. Police said the driver attempted to drive away.
Fairnot’s vehicle spun out, smashing into a police car, Davis said.
Online court records do not list any traffic violations for Fairnot.
Officers said they saw him reaching under the driver’s seat and ordered him to show his hands.
Police said he did, but they later recovered a handgun from beneath the seat.
The Taurus PT140 Millennium Pro was loaded.
The arrest comes just days after police heard gunshots in the neighborhood. Around 4 a.m. Sunday, patrol officers heard the gunfire and saw an unidentified man running from a parked car. They couldn’t chase down the runner.
As officers searched the area — the same community where on Friday morning they found three cars struck by bullets — they found a Glock Model 27 .40 caliber handgun with spent shell casings and an empty box of Smith & Wesson ammunition, according to police.
Davis said it’s unclear whether Fairnot is connected to any of the recent gunfire, which stretches back to April.
On April 2, county officers were summoned around 2:30 a.m. to the neighborhood for reports of shots fired. They learned that somebody had fired a number of rounds from a parking lot into a residence on Dunfield Court occupied by five people, none of whom were injured.
Police encourage anybody with information about the gunfire to contact detectives with the department’s Western District Station at 410-222-61655 or, if the caller wishes to remain anonymous, dial the Tip Line at 410-222-4700.