Artesia primarily covers court stories, but she also writes extensively about crime.
A 26-year-old man who had an assault rifle in his car was on Tuesday sentenced to three years’ imprisonment.
Raheem Walkes, of Oxford Avenue, will spend another year behind bars if a $10,000 fine isn’t paid by the conclusion of sentence.
Around 7:30 p.m. on November 27, a team from Operation Ceasefire tried to stop Walkes’ Nissan Note on Bahama Avenue.
Instead of yielding to police, Walkes sped off, leading police on a chase, which ended when he crashed into another vehicle.
Walkes ran from the car, but he was caught by officers and returned to the car. During a search, the officers found an AR-15 assault rifle, the prosecutor Sgt. Vernon Pyfrom said.
This is Walkes’ second firearm conviction and he has another pending gun case.
In his mitigation, defense lawyer Tony Scriven revealed that Walkes’ children, ages three and eight, were in the car during the chase.
This led the magistrate to chastise Walkes for endangering his children rather than protecting them.
