Roosevelt man charged with criminal weapon possession

A Roosevelt man was arrested early Sunday and charged with criminal possession of a weapon after officers reported he threw a handgun over a fence while running from police, Nassau County police said.

Police said they saw a group of people drinking on Horace Avenue in Roosevelt at 12:40 a.m. and approached them.

As they drew near, Christopher Gaines, 20, started to walk away, then ran after the officers told him to stop, police said.

Gaines was briefly chased by police, who said they saw him throw a handgun over a fence. The officers overtook Gaines and arrested him, then found a loaded silver Jennings .380-caliber semiautomatic handgun at the fence, according to police. The handgun's serial number had been defaced, police said.

Gaines was charged with second- and third-degree criminal possession of a weapon. At his arraignment on Sunday at First District Court in Hempstead, Gaines was ordered held on $10,000 cash bail or $40,000 bond, according to court records. He is due back in court on Wednesday.