BOSTON, March 12, 2013—A Dorchester man was arraigned yesterday after MBTA Transit Police stopped him for driving erratically and found an empty bottle of cognac and an unregistered firearm in his vehicle, District Attorney Daniel F. Conley said.

MICHAEL A. JONES (D.O.B. 6/5/71) was arraigned in Dorchester District Court on charges of unlawful possession of a firearm, unlawful possession of ammunition, carrying a loaded firearm, operating under the influence of alcohol, and negligent operation of a motor vehicle.

Assistant District Attorney Darcy Kofol requested $35,000 bail.  Judge Robert Tochka set bail at $5,000 and ordered Jones to wear a GPS monitor, remain alcohol free, and abide by a curfew of 11:00 p.m. to 4:30 a.m.

Transit Police officers driving a prisoner transport wagon spotted a Cadillac Deville with Rhode Island plates operating at a high rate of speed on Gladeside Avenue in Mattapan at around 6:49 p.m. Saturday.  The car failed to stop before making a left turn onto River Street, screeching its tires and turning sideways directly in front of the officers before fishtailing on River Street and driving on the wrong side of the road at up to 50 miles per hour, prosecutors said.

The officers pulled the vehicle over, smelled the strong odor of alcohol when they approached, and noticed that Jones had glassy, blood shot eyes and slurred his speech, prosecutors said.  They also spotted an empty 375ml bottle of Hennessey behind the front passenger’s seat. When asked for his driver’s license, prosecutors said, Jones spent five minutes fumbling through his wallet, during which time he repeatedly dropped the wallet and became visibly confused.

Officers instructed Jones to step out of the car for a series of field sobriety tests.  Upon exiting the vehicle, Jones began to sway to the left and into traffic and had to be guided to safety on the shoulder of the road, prosecutors said.

After failing the battery of tests, Jones was placed under arrest and his vehicle was inventoried, leading to the discovery of a .40 caliber Glock Model 23 with eight rounds in the magazine in a cooler bag behind the driver’s seat. Also in the bag were two boxes containing an additional 99 rounds of ammunition and a bag with a small quantity of marijuana, prosecutors said.

Prosecutors said Jones submitted to two breathalyzer tests at Transit Police headquarters, blowing a .17 and a .16 – twice the legal limit of .08. During the booking process, officers recovered from his pockets a receipt for a $22.24 purchase at the Boston Liquor Depot. The purchase was made about two hours prior to Jones’ arrest.

Jones will return to court on April 26 for a pretrial hearing.

–30–

All defendants are presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.