After allegedly spraying officers with squirt gun, man arrested over real gun, police say

A 23-year-old Dorchester man is facing firearm charges after Boston police say he sprayed officers conducting a traffic stop with a squirt gun and they allegedly found a real firearm when they searched him. 

Danyael Torres is charged with assault and battery on a police officer, unlawful possession of a firearm, and unlawful possession of ammunition.

Boston police said officers were sitting in their cruiser during a traffic stop near 518 Warren Street on Saturday around 7:15 p.m. when one of the officers felt a liquid strike him in the face and arms as another car drove by. 

The officers located and stopped the vehicle, police said. 

“The front seat passenger stated to officers that he meant to scare them,” police said. “Officers advised the occupants that they had interfered with a traffic stop and requested their identifications. Officers observed the front passenger to [sic] lean forward and requested him to sit up straight in order to be able to see his hands.”

The officers asked the passenger, later identified as Torres, to get out of the vehicle, police said. He allegedly refused, and police said the officers opened the car door and again allegedly saw him hunch forward. 

“Officers conducted a pat frisk of the suspect and recovered a firearm from his waistband,” police said. 

According to police, a squirt gun was also recovered from the car. The other occupants in the car were “promptly released,” police said, but Torres was arrested. 

He was arraigned Monday in Roxbury District Court, where he pleaded not guilty to the charges. 

A request for comment to the attorney representing Torres was not immediately returned.