News10NBC Investigates: Another gun arrest using a tactic that keeps the suspect in custody

ROCHESTER, N.Y. News10NBC Investigates: Another gun arrest using a tactic that keeps the suspect in custody

We have another example of a new tactic by RPD and the ATF that keeps some people arrested with an illegal gun in custody. The practice is so new no one from law enforcement will talk about it on camera.

But that’s okay because News10NBC got all the information we need from a federal courtroom today.

The key is the gun. RPD makes an arrest involving a suspected illegal gun. They call ATF which runs a background check on the gun using the make, model and serial number.

If the weapon comes up as being manufactured outside New York it becomes a federal case and the suspect remains in jail.

That’s what happened on Oneida Street in Rochester on July 30th. RPD arrested Joshua Massey for menacing people with a gun. The court complaint says they also found drugs in his car. ATF ran background on the gun RPD seized and it came back as “manufactured outside the State of New York.” Therefore the gun traveled in “interstate commerce.” That makes it a federal case.

Massey is at least the 5th person arrested with RPD and ATF using this tactic. Two weeks ago I told you about the case of four-time convicted felon Maurice Chatman. Chatman was arrested by RPD after they say they found him standing outside a home with a rifle. ATF ran a background check using the serial number on the Winchester rifle seized by RPD and found it was not manufactured in New York and therefore was “affecting interstate commerce.” ATF took the case and now Chatman is in jail on “federal” authority.

Every single person we are aware of arrested with an illegal gun using this technique is still in custody.
Massey has a federal detention hearing Thursday. He was also indicted by the Monroe County grand jury today, so the state still has a case against him.

But it’s more than just having a gun. Like Massey, the other defendants are accused of having either prior felony convictions, possessing illegal drugs or committing another crime with the gun like a carjacking for instance.