Today, 23 year old Albert Wagner became the first person charged in the magistrate's court under the new anti-gang laws passed in March.
The offense is possession of a firearm for the benefit of a gang. He was read that charge along with two others, namely possession of a firearm without a gun license and discharging a firearm in public before Magistrate Michelle Trapp.
Wagner pleaded not guilty to all charges - but there's no bail for a firearm offence, so he was remanded until September 28.
On Sunday morning at 10:10, police were on mobile patrol on Vernon Street when they heard gunshots. When the patrol team got to the corner of Vernon Street and Lindo's Alley, they saw Wagner put a firearm in the waist of his pants and ride off on a bicycle. They said they began to chase Wagner and he crashed his bicycle into a cement fence and threw a firearm on the verandah of a blue bungalow house. When they retrieved the firearm it was a 9 millimeter pistol.
The police said that they have reason to believe that Wagner is a member of the Westmoreland Gang of Taylor's Alley.