Dartmouth Police Arrest New Bedford Man Carrying Pistol

DARTMOUTH — A New Bedford man faces multiple charges after he's caught with a gun in Dartmouth.

Dartmouth Police say officer Adam Rego was investigating an illegally parked vehicle on Rogers Street at 3:50 a.m. on Monday. While attempting to identify the occupants in the vehicle, Officer Rego witnessed the man in the driver's seat try to obscure a gun between his legs.

Officer Rego successfully recovered the .45 caliber Colt semi-automatic pistol from the man, identified as Brian Ortiz, 21, of Nye Street, New Bedford. Ortiz did not possess a valid license to carry a firearm in Massachusetts.

Ortiz was placed under arrest and charged with carrying a loaded firearm without a license, possession of a large capacity firearm, trespassing with a motor vehicle, operating an unregistered motor vehicle, operating an uninsured motor vehicle, and illegally attaching plates to a motor vehicle.

The Dartmouth Police Department is working to determine the origin of the firearm.