Charles Hicks Jr. fled after firing a single shot in the direction of Doug’s Tailgate Tavern on State Street Thursday and might have eluded police, had he not returned to the bar for his coat, according to investigators.
Hicks, 22, of Yates Village, was charged with criminal possession of a weapon and reckless endangerment, both felonies, after alledgedly firing the shot. Police initially responded to reports of shots fired in the Central State Street area around 2:30 a.m.
Upon arrival, investigators determined that an altercation occurred between Hicks and a woman inside the bar. The scuffle eventually moved onto the street, causing a crowd to gather, according to police.
At some point, Hicks got into a Nissan Altima parked nearby with three other individuals and allegedly fired a single shot back in the direction of the bar. The car then fled the area, prompting police to canvass the area for a vehicle meeting its description.
While investigators were still interviewing people at the scene, Hicks returned to the bar to retrieve his coat. Schenectady police Sgt. Eric Clifford said he was quickly identified.
“One of the people pointed to him and said, ‘That’s the guy right there,’ ” he said.
Meanwhile, police searching for the car that Hicks fled in pulled over a group in a Nissan Maxima. Police later determined that the four men were not involved in the shooting. However, they found a loaded .40-caliber handgun inside the vehicle and arrested all four on a weapons charge. Clifford said none of the vehicle’s occupants claimed the weapon, so all four were arrested.
Charged with felony criminal possession of a weapon were Curtis Perkins, 22, of 40 McClellan St.; Derrinton L. Johnson, 16, of Schenectady Street; Eric J. Harris, 19, of 41 Moyston St.; and Jerome D. Jordan, 30, of 830 Cutler St.
All five men were arraigned in City Court Friday.
Perkins was arrested on the same charge in June 2008 after a similar incident stemming from a reported altercation. He was among four individuals arrested on weapons charges after their car was stopped on Hulett Street.
Perkins is also a victim of the city’s gun violence. In November 2007, he suffered a gunshot wound to his arm in what police suspected was a shootout between several individuals.
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