A Watervliet patrol officer's routine traffic stop near 2nd Avenue and 15th Street turned into a car chase, a foot chase and the recovery of two loaded handguns early Thursday, including one allegedly modified to fire fully automatically. Police say the chaos began around 2:45 a.m. when 24-year-old Albany resident Zyeef Cancer, driving with a suspended license, sped off rather than stop.
According to the Watervliet Police Department, an officer on routine patrol spotted a vehicle violating New York's vehicle and traffic law in the area and attempted to stop it. Cancer struck a tire-deflation device officers had deployed but kept driving anyway, leading police on a pursuit that stretched into the City of Albany before he finally stopped and was taken into custody there.
His passenger, 26-year-old Albany resident Akeim Ryan, didn't stay in the car for the ride. Police say Ryan bailed out on foot and was caught after a brief chase, and it was in the area where he was apprehended that officers recovered a loaded handgun fitted with a large-capacity ammunition-feeding device.
A Second Gun, Modified to Fire Automatically
Investigators didn't stop at one weapon. A second loaded handgun, also equipped with a large-capacity ammunition-feeding device, was recovered during the investigation — and police say that one had been modified to fire in a fully automatic capacity. The report notes the investigation into that second firearm remained ongoing as of Friday.
A search of the vehicle also turned up a backpack belonging to Cancer that contained a quantity of cannabis, police said. That discovery added a drug charge to what was already shaping up as a serious night for the 24-year-old.
Charges and Custody Status
Cancer was charged with third-degree criminal possession of cannabis along with multiple New York State vehicle and traffic law violations. He was released with an appearance ticket rather than held, per the same account.
Ryan faces a steeper legal road. He was charged with second-degree criminal possession of a weapon, a Class C felony. Under New York Penal Law, that charge can apply when someone possesses a machine gun, a loaded firearm or a disguised gun with intent to use it unlawfully against another person, among other qualifying conditions. Ryan was arraigned on the charge and remanded to the Albany County Correctional Facility in lieu of bail, and police said the assistant district attorney recommended he be held without bail or on a higher bail amount.
Not the First Modified Gun Found in Watervliet
This isn't the first time Watervliet police have reported recovering an illegally modified handgun during a pursuit. In a separate case detailed by News10, officers arrested a 15-year-old after a vehicle fled from the Congress Street Bridge into Watervliet, and a passenger in that incident was found with a handgun that had allegedly been illegally modified to be made fully automatic.
