Last weekend, the Amherst Police Department arrested two area men on possession of marijuana and firearms charges, according to a Nov. 8 release from APD Lieutenant Ronald Young.

On Saturday, an officer on patrol near Hobart Lane, just past the University of Massachusetts campus, detected what the release described as a suspicious vehicle. The officer stopped, and soon initiated a search of the vehicle, which had two male occupants.

Inside the vehicle, officers found a large quantity of marijuana, packaged for sale, large amounts of cash and a .22 caliber pistol with a defaced serial number.

Both men were arrested. They are Shane G. Mathieson-Jacob, 17, of 7 Sundwon Drive in Goshen, Mass., and Jeremy M. Helfant, also 17, of 134 High Street in Greenfield.

Mathieson was charged with possession of a Class D substance with intent to distribute, carrying a firearm without a license, defacing a serial number on a firearm, and possession of a large capacity weapon. Helfant was charged with possession of a Class D substance with intent to distribute.

According to the release, both men were to be arraigned Monday at the Eastern Hampshire District Court in Belchertown. Neither is affiliated with the Five Colleges.

-Collegian News Staff