Roxbury traffic stop yields .32-caliber semiautomatic pistol

A Medford man faces illegal gun possession charges after Boston police stopped a speeding vehicle in Roxbury early Tuesday morning.

Officers in an unmarked cruiser were patrolling along Dudley Street and Malcolm X Boulevard when they spotted a car speeding on the boulevard at about 12:26 a.m., police said.

The officers turned on their emergency lights, but the vehicle did not stop until it reached Ruggles Street, police said. Police recognized the four people inside and concluded the driver was not authorized to be operating a rental car. He was taken into custody for unauthorized use of a motor vehicle, police said.

Police then ordered the three passengers out of the car.

As one passenger was being frisked, he allegedly tried to force his way into the vehicle so he could drive away. Another passenger began assaulting officers, police said. All three were arrested.

Officers found a .32-caliber semiautomatic pistol inside the pants leg of the passenger who had tried to flee, police said. Kenneth Ford, 18, of Medford, was charged with unlawful possession of a firearm, unlawful possession of ammunition, assault and battery on a police officer, and resisting arrest, police said. He was also issued a civil citation for possession of less than one ounce of marijuana.

The driver was identified as Devante Petty-Creech, 21, of Dorchester. The other passengers were identified as Peter Fanfan, 27, of Dorchester, and Miesha Griffin, 19, also of Dorchester.

Fanfan and Griffin were charged with aiding the escape of a prisoner and resisting arrest. Fanfan is also charged with assault and battery on a police officer.

Ford pleaded not guilty Wednesday in Roxbury Municipal Court, where bail was set at $50,000 cash.

Fanfan pleaded not guilty and had bail set at $5,000 cash; he was also ordered held without bail for violating terms of bail from an unrelated case, prosecutors said.