Maniacal driving down Columbia Road ends with two arrested, one for a loaded gun, police say

Boston Police report arresting two people in cars whose drivers they say sped through two red lights on Columbia Road early this morning - one for the loaded gun he was packing, the other for outstanding arrest warrants for him.

The man arrested on gun charges, Tavarge Thomas, 24, of Dorchester, does not have good luck on icy winter days: He was also arrested almost a year ago to the day, when he allegedly tried run away from police while carrying a loaded gun, only to slip on some ice, which let officers catch up to him.

Police say officers on patrol in the area of Blue Hill Avenue and Columbia Road around 2 a.m. today noticed two cars "fail to stop at a red light, pass a snowplow at high speed, and then fail to stop for a second red light." Noting that the storm had made driving conditions dangerous even for safe operators, the officers caught up with the two cars about a mile down Columbia at Quincy Street.

Officers began to engage the occupants of both vehicles in conversation. One of the occupants of the vehicles, unsolicited by officers, began to speak about firearms and, more specifically, their prior firearm arrest history. The occupant additionally made references to the firearm arrests posted by the police department on its website. A [criminal-database] query of the passengers in the vehicle revealed that a passenger in one of the vehicles, Rondell Pennant, had an active felony warrant out of Brockton District Court. Officers began to remove the occupants of the vehicles to effect the arrest of Pennant safely, and upon a pat frisk of Tavarge Thomas, a loaded firearm was recovered.

The firearm was determined to be a Glock 43 with one round in the chamber and six rounds in the magazine.

Thomas was charged with unlawful possession of a firearm, unlawful possesison of a firearm, subsequent offense, and unlawful possession of ammunition, police say.

Innocent, etc.