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Press Release

Rochester Man Arrested On Gun Charge After Attempting To Flee From Police

For Immediate Release
U.S. Attorney's Office, Western District of New York

CONTACT: Barbara Burns
PHONE: (716) 843-5817
FAX #: (716) 551-3051

BUFFALO, N.Y.—U.S. Attorney James P. Kennedy, Jr. announced today that Tyree Sommerville, 24, of Buffalo, NY, was arrested and charged by criminal complaint with being a felon in possession of a firearm. The charge carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. 

Assistant U.S. Meghan E. Leydecker, who is handling the case, stated that late in the morning on December 6, 2020, Buffalo Police Officers were on routine patrol when they observed a vehicle with Ohio license plates fail to signal 100 feet prior to turning at the intersection of Dartmouth Avenue and Orleans Street. Officers activated their overhead lights and sirens to conduct a traffic stop. The operator of vehicle refused to stop and continued to drive before turning into a lot on Stockbridge Avenue. At that point, three individuals exited the vehicle, including Sommerville, who jumped out of the vehicle and fled from officers on foot. After a foot chase, law enforcement officers apprehended the defendant on Hewitt Avenue. As he was being apprehended, officers recovered a semiautomatic pistol from Sommerville. In July 2014, the defendant was convicted of Criminal Possession of a Weapon in the Second Degree, in New York State Court and as a result is legally prohibited from possessing a firearm.

The defendant was ordered detained this morning following a detention hearing before U.S. Magistrate Judge H. Kenneth Schroeder, Jr.

The complaint is the result of an investigation by the Buffalo Police Department, under the direction of Commissioner Byron Lockwood, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation Safe Streets Task Force, under the direction of Special Agent-in-Charge Stephen Belongia.

The fact that a defendant has been charged with a crime is merely an accusation and the defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty. 

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Updated March 23, 2021

Topic
Firearms Offenses