State Troopers Arrest Man with Illegal Firearm in Western Massachusetts Traffic Stop

State Troopers out of the Lee, Massachusetts barracks removed an illegal firearm from the streets after a traffic stop on the Mass Pike.

Shortly before 9:30 a.m. on Saturday, March 18, Sergeant George Hamilton, assigned to Troop B of the Massachusetts State Police, conducted a motor vehicle stop on a BMW traveling on Route 90 westbound in Lee.

Segreant Hamilton noted that the status of the license plates affixed to the BMW was canceled showing that the vehicle was unregistered. After stopping the vehicle, Sergeant Hamilton approached it and identified the operator as Jessie Campbell, 26, of West Hartford, Connecticut. Sergeant Hamilton quickly learned that Campbell didn’t possess a driver’s license and had no paperwork for the newly acquired BMW, then requested a tow truck to respond to the scene to remove the vehicle.

Upon the arrival of the tow truck, Campbell was issued a criminal summons to appear in court for motor vehicle charges and removed from the vehicle to conduct an inventory of its contents.

During additional questioning on the scene, it was discovered that Campbell was in possession of a loaded Walther P22 pistol. Campbell is not licensed to possess firearms and so he was placed under arrest by state troopers. He was transported to the Lee Barracks for booking where a bail commissioner set bail at $5,000. He was then transported to the Hampden County House of Correction pending his arraignment at Great Barrington District Court on Monday for the following charges, Illegal Possession of a Firearm, Illegal Possession of Ammunition, Carrying a Firearm without a License, Operating a Vehicle without a Driver's License, Unregistered Motor Vehicle, and Attaching Plates.