3 felons arrested in Meriden after loaded guns found in their car

MERIDEN – Police say three people were arrested after two “fully loaded” guns were found in a vehicle Friday night.

James Kyle Hill and Ernest Harold, 33, both of Hamden, and Jeremiah Galesky Perkins, 26, of Waterbury, are each charged with four misdemeanors in connection with the incident, Meriden police spokesman Sergeant Michael Boothroyd said in a news release.

At around 11:30 p.m., officers were called to the area of ​​236 Grove St. for a report of a fight involving at least one weapon, Boothroyd said. Police departments had received “multiple calls” about the fight and the description of a man who dropped a weapon during the altercation, according to Boothroyd.

Officers encountered three men who “admitted that there had been a verbal argument in which they attempted to calm the driver down before police arrived,” Boothroyd said.

One of the men was identified as Hill, who had an outstanding arrest warrant for failing to register as a sex offender, Boothroyd said.

After officers arrested Hill, they ordered Harold and Perkins out of the vehicle and patted them down as part of their investigation, Boothroyd said. He found that one of the men matched the description dispatch received of the person who dropped the weapon.

When Harold and Perkins got out of the vehicle, officers noticed a “highly visible” gun under the passenger seat, Boothroyd said. They then searched the vehicle and found another gun under the same seat, the sergeant said. Both guns were fully loaded, he added.

Hill, Harold and Perkins are all convicted felons with “multiple” previous gun and drug offenses, Boothroyd said. All three men were arrested and taken to Meriden Police Department without issue, he said.

Hill is charged with illegal possession of a firearm, illegal carrying of a pistol, possession of weapons in a vehicle and illegal sale, delivery or transfer of pistols and revolvers, according to Boothroyd. He was being held on $700,000 bail, Boothroyd said.

Perkins and Harold are each charged with the same crimes and are being held on $500,000 bail, Boothroyd said.