Boston

Winthrop Man Found With Assault Rifle in His Car Arraigned in Court

A man is facing a number of charges after Boston police say they found him armed with a handgun outside a KFC in Dorchester and an AR-15 style rifle in his car.

Stephen White, 70, of Winthrop, pleaded not guilty during his arraignment Thursday in Dorchester Municipal Court to 10 counts of unlawful possession of a large-capacity feeding device and single counts of unlawful possession of an assault weapon and improper storage of a large-capacity weapon. 

White was held on $7,500 bail and ordered to surrender all of his firearms to the Winthrop Police Department.

Officials say on March 20 that neighborhood drug control units were conducting drug investigations in the area of Massachusetts Avenue and Columbia Road where they observed a woman inside the KFC making what appeared to be a drug transaction.

Officers stopped the woman, later identified as 29-year-old Krista McCaffrey of Winthrop, as she got back into an Explorer driven by White.

When an officer approached her, police say the woman admitted she was in possession of heorin and White admitted he was armed.

During a search of White's vehicle, officers recovered a loaded Para Hi-Cap P12 .45 caliber firearm, a Windham Mecal 223 AR-15 style rifle with a folding stock and flash suppressor, ten loaded high capacity magazines, and a black tactical ballistic body armor vest.

“There is no need for any citizen in the city of Boston to be carrying high powered weapons of this kind, and there are just too many of these guns out there," said Police Commissioner William Evans. "My greatest concern is the safety of our residents and neighborhoods, and my officers and I will continue to do our part to keep high capacity firearms and assault rifles off the streets of Boston and out of the wrong hands."

Both White and McCaffrey were arrested.

McCaffrey was charged with possession of heroin and arrested also on outstanding default warrants for unlawful possession of ammunition and possession of Class E drugs out of South Boston District Court.

Police say White told them he had all of the guns, ammunition and vest with him because he has ties to the U.S. military and was concerned about "jihadists on the highway."

White told police he was conducting tests on how to address the situation.

Neighbors of White were too afraid to speak on camera, telling NBC10 Boston White is not a good guy.

White will be back in court on May 3.

Bail was not requested for McCaffrey, and she will be back in court on May 25.

It's unclear if either has an attorney.

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