PD: Felon With 21 Convictions Had Loaded 2-Shot Derringer in SUV

A Bridgeport man sleeping inside his SUV with the engine running was found with a loaded handgun and turned out to be a felon with 21 prior convictions, according to Middletown Police.

On Feb. 17 at 8:11 p.m., police walking the North End beat conducted a property check of Smoke 911 at 608 Main Street when the owner received a phone call about a black SUV blocking a driveway on Liberty Street.

The report says it had been parked there for more than two hours and the driver, Jose Rey, 48, of Success Avenue, Bridgeport, had at one point called her over to the car "as if she was a prostitute." 

The report says police found the SUV's engine running with Rey asleep inside; when awoken, he said he was in Shelton, then Derby, and the officer saw a knife in his pocket, a small, .22 caliber High Standard Derringer loaded with two Remingon short-rim fire bullets inside the door panel with a black latex glove wrapped around it.

Rey, the report indicates, told them he didn't know the gun was there and it was his sister's vehicle. Open bottles of alcohol were found in the car and Rey had a pending arrest from Derby for possession of narcotics and drug paraphernalia.

Police indicate Rey is a convicted felon with 21 arrests for weapons in a motor vehicle, criminal impersonation, first-degree escape, possession of drug paraphernalia, failure to appear, breach of peace and operating under suspension.

Rey was charged with carrying a pistol without a permit, weapons in a vehicle and criminal possession of a pistol.