Cops: Hempstead man had shotgun, cocaine

A 25-year-old man was arrested on weapons and drug-possession charges early Thursday after being arrested by Hempstead Village police officers who heard gunshots -- and found the alleged gunman trying to hide in an apartment building.

Hempstead police said Malcolm Harris of Yale Street in Hempstead was arrested by officers as he attempted to gain entry to 100 Terrace Ave. at 1:35 a.m.

Harris was stopped in the vestibule and during questioning the officers discovered Harris was concealing in his pants a sawed-off Mossberg shotgun with a 17-inch barrel, Nassau County police said in a news release. The defendant refused to release his hands from the gun and struggled with the officers, police said. The defendant, who was eventually arrested, was also carrying 15 clear plastic bags of cocaine and a razor blade, police said.

Harris was charged with third-degree and fourth-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance, second-degree criminal use of a firearm, second-degree and third-degree criminal possession of a weapon, reckless endangerment and resisting arrest.

He is scheduled for arraignment Thursday in First District Court in Hempstead.