NORTH SHORE – Kelvin Mendoza, 26, of Fitchburg and Emanuel Rodriguez-Shonyo, 25, of Salem were arraigned today in Salem District Court on a variety of firearms charges following a traffic stop early this morning in which Mr. Mendoza allegedly repeatedly referenced recent police shootings.
Essex Assistant District Attorney Erin Bellavia told the court that the two men were stopped driving the wrong-way down a one-way street after police had observed behavior consistent with narcotics dealing. The driver, Mr. Mendoza, was very hostile and antagonistic toward police and referenced other police shootings. At one point he reached into his car, despite orders not to, and appeared to be reaching under the front seat. Police found a loaded .40 handgun under the driver’s seat and a loaded large capacity rifle in a bag between the two front seats. Neither defendant had a license to carry those weapons. While transporting Mr. Rodriguez-Shonyo back to the police station, it was discovered that he had an app on his phone, which allowed him to listen in on the Salem Police radio scanner. The app was open and it is believed to have been open prior to the traffic stop.
The two men are both charged with Carrying a Loaded Large Capacity Firearm without a License, Carrying a Loaded Firearm without a License, Possession of Ammunition without an FID Card (2 counts), Possession of Class C Drugs, Improper Storage of a Large Capacity Firearm and Improper Storage of a Firearm. Mr. Mendoza is also charged with Improper Operation of a Motor Vehicle.
Mr. Mendoza is on active duty with the Army Reserves.
Judge Matthew Machera ordered both defendants held without bail pending a dangerousness hearing scheduled for August 10, 2016.
From:
Carrie Kimball Monahan
Director of Communications
Essex District Attorney’s Office
Today’s area headlines: Survey released on Lynn’s Union Hospital; Congressman Moulton criticizes Trump statement; MBTA going solar at local garages; Gloucester looking for new CAO
NEWSCAST – Rick Moore
SPORTSCAST – Bill Newell (Navigator game story is posted below)
Notice – Israel Horovitz and Paula Plum at Sawyer Free Library Thursday Night – Details Below
The North Shore Navigators seven game win streak came to a close on Tuesday night after a game against the Brockton Rox. In a game that saw the two 26-24 teams meet, the Rox ultimately came out on top by a final score of 4-1. The Navigators are now holding on to the fifth seed in the playoff race as a result of the defeat.
Despite the loss, starter Speros Varinos (Tufts University) was solid on the mound today for the Navigators. In five innings of work, he managed to strike out eight Brockton batters and generally had good control over all of his pitches during the day. Although he did give up three runs, only two of them were earned and he did a good job of limiting the damage that the Rox batters could do.
After Varinos’ night was done, the Navigators got an absolutely stellar effort out of their relief pitcher Sean O’Neill (Brandeis University). O’Neill worked the last three innings of the night and put forth a very solid effort. He struck out five batters over the course of his outing and really overpowered a lot of the Rox batters. He only surrendered a single hit during the game which resulted in one run by virtue of a couple of steals. O’Neill kept the game close and gave the Navigators a chance to score some runs late.
The Navigators got their offense going a little bit in the ninth inning, but they were unable to do enough to overcome the Rox. After a leadoff triple by Jordan Roper (Marist College), Colby Maiola (UMass Lowell) managed to draw a walk. With two on and nobody out, Christian Cabrera (Broward CC) hit a hard grounder to the shortstop that the Rox turned into two outs. Roper came around to score the lone Navigators run on the day but that was all the offense could produce.
Roper had a pretty solid day for the Navigators. He went 2-4 on the day hitting the aforementioned triple and a big double into right center field in the first inning. He raised his average to .333 on the season and has been one of the hottest Navigators hitters over the past couple of weeks.
The Navigators will return to action on Wednesday, August 3 when they play host to the Martha’s Vineyard Sharks. First pitch will be at 7:00 p.m. and the game will be at historic Fraser Field in Lynn
