Traffic stop ends with three arrested on gun charges on Columbus Avenue

Boston Police report arresting three men on gun charges at Columbus Avenue and Centre Street, near Heath Street, last night after officers on patrol pulled over their car for not having a valid inspection sticker.

Police say one thing led to another during the traffic stop around 7:55 p.m. - the driver handed over a Mass. ID card instead of a driver's license, the officers noticed two open beer bottles - and a case of beer - in front of an increasingly nervous front-seat passenger, and the driver's ID came back as belonging to somebody with a revoked license,

With neither of the occupants possessing an active license, all parties were removed from the vehicle. Officers subsequently located a plastic bag containing a pair of sweatpants, and inside of the pocket was an XD-9 Springfield Armory firearm loaded with twelve rounds of live ammunition.

Lashawn Bannister, 24, Ervonne Carter, 51, of Roxbury and Walter Coleman, 22, of Dorchester were all charged with unlawful possession of a firearm, unlawful possession of a large-capacity firearm, possession of a firearm with an obliterated serial number, unlawful possession of ammunition and carrying a loaded firearm without a license. Coleman was also charged with firearm violation with three prior violent/drug offenses, police say.

Innocent, etc.