Superior Court in Derby.
DERBY – A 44-year-old Derby man who allegedly had two guns in his possession while struggling with a cop is due back in court in March.
The suspect, James Graziani, has eight weapons-related crimes pending in court, plus one count of interfering with an officer.
The charges stem from a Dec. 27 encounter in west Derby.
According to a police incident report, Officer Jeffrey Schmaling recognized Graziani’s vehicle parked on Anson Street from a failed traffic stop four days prior.
The officer then spotted Graziani on the street and ordered him to place his hands on his vehicle.
Graziani started to run. Schmaling tackled him. A struggle ensued, during which Schmaling realized Graziani had a gun sticking out his pants near the small of his back, according to the report.
Schmaling grabbed the weapon and tossed it out of reach.
Graziani got up and tried to run again.
Schmaling, fearing Graziani would run away or go for the discarded gun, used a Taser to subdue him.
“I give up,” the report quotes Graziani as saying after falling to the ground.
Then Graziani told police he had a second gun tucked into his pants.
“This writer then observed a small black handgun in a cloth holster clipped to Graziani’s belt. This writer removed the firearm and placed it with the other firearm,” Schmaling wrote in his report.
The report notes that the officer’s body camera fell off during the struggle and that Graziani’s shirt was pulled up over his head.
Graziani is forbidden from owning firearms as a result of prior felony convictions. One of the handguns, a Kel-Tec P‑32, showed up as stolen in a national law enforcement database.
Graziani’s charges are: two counts of criminal possession of a firearm or ammunition, two counts of criminal possession of a pistol or revolver, two counts of carrying a pistol without a permit, one count of illegal possession of a large capacity magazine, one count of theft of a firearm, and one count of interfering with an officer.
Five of these charges are Class C felonies, which can carry 1 to 10 years in prison each. The other four charges are two Class D felonies (1 to 5 years each) and two Class A misdemeanors.
Graziani was arraigned on Dec. 28 and is currently being held on a $200,000 bond.
Graziani is represented by Dan Lage, a public defender. At press time, Lage had not responded to a request for comment by The Valley Indy.
Graziani also faces several drug and weapons-related charges stemming from a separate arrest in September. He is scheduled to enter a plea for those charges in Milford on Feb. 6. He’s next due in Derby court on March 12.
