A routine traffic stop on Western Avenue in Lynn spiraled into a weapons bust yesterday, after Trooper Carlo Mastromattei clocked a Jeep Grand Cherokee sans a front license plate. In a beefed-up patrol area, still reeling from the sting of recent gang violence and shootings, Trooper Mastromattei, a diligent soldier of the Community Action Team for Troop A, would soon make a chilling discovery. The events unfolded as Mastromattei signaled to the Jeep's driver, whom the Massachusetts State Police News identified as 21-year-old Edixon Mejia of Chelsea, to halt.
Massachusetts' own sunlight did little to illuminate the shady interior of the vehicle, prompting Mastromattei to have Mejia roll down the cloaked rear windows. Backed by his fellow A Troop CAT members, Troopers Tah Yem and Jeffrey Bermani, a bottle of Patron tequila was spotted—not in the hands of age-of-consent drinkers but at the feet of an underage passenger, as per official statements. Their compliance with the search revealed more dire contraband: three spring-assisted knives tucked in the center console, breaching both Lynn's city ordinances and Massachusetts law.
It wasn't long before the pat-downs commenced. The cars' backseat unveiled a 16-year-old juvenile packing more than just adolescent angst—he was caught with a loaded .22 caliber handgun, it's identity obliterated by a defaced serial number. Mejia, alongside passengers Walter Ramirez Estuban, 18, of Chelsea, and the unnamed juvenile, were swiftly handcuffed after none could produce a firearm license when challenged.
Hauled to Revere Barracks, the troika faced booking and fingerprinting with the relentless march of MSP policy. Mejia, as well as Ramirez Estuban, were later released on bail, their presence demanded at Lynn District Court. The juvenile, wrapped in the cloak of anonymity that the law provides to young offenders, awaited his guardian's arrival. He would be seen in Lynn Juvenile Court the next day, burdened with a litany of charges from carrying a concealed weapon to juvenile possession of liquor, as Massachusetts State Police News detailed.
In the Lynn District Court, Mejia's arraignment sheet read like a rap sheet culled from a much longer saga: possession of a firearm, carrying a dangerous weapon, procurement of alcohol for minors, and several other vehicular infractions. Estuban faced the music for underage liquor possession. As the gavel of justice awaits to fall, this episode stands as a stark reminder of the perils lurking behind even the most mundane traffic stops.
