Two arrested for early morning gunfire outside Back Bay club

A Hyde Park man was arraigned today on charges he tried to end an argument involving his friend outside the 33 Restaurant and Lounge on Stanhope Street by pulling out a gun and firing it at least six times.

The friend, also from Hyde Park, was also charged in connection with the 2 a.m. incident, which ended with the pair being arrested after leading police on a car chase through the South End, according to the Suffolk County District Attorney's office, which adds nobody was hurt.

Felix Machado, 27, pleaded innocent to charges of unlawful possession of a firearm and ammunition, receiving stolen property, discharging a firearm within 500' of a building and failure to stop for police. Cesar Guzman, 22, whose honor Machado was apparently trying to protect, also pleaded innocent to the same weapons charges. Boston Municipal Court Judge Robert J. McKenna set their bails at $10,000 and $5,000 respectively.

The DA's office says the gun Machado allegedly used was stolen more than 10 years ago from a Massachusetts resident and that investigators will attempt to figure out how it got to the pair. Machado was on probation for possession of marijuana with intent to distribute and Guzman had just completed his probation for the same offense, the DA's office says. Both face a minimum of 18 months in prison if convicted of the gun-possession charge.

The DA's office provided this account of their arrest:

The officers and civilians at this point heard shots fired, and the Boston Police ShotSpotter system also detected gunshots. Bystanders alerted officers that the gunman was fleeing the scene in a black Infiniti traveling southwest on Columbus Avenue.

Boston Police alerted to the incident and the suspect vehicle observed an Infiniti matching the bystanders’ description and a partial plate number they had provided. When pursuing officers attempted to stop the vehicle, it sped the wrong way down a one-way street before being stopped.

Recovered in an alley along the vehicle’s path of flight was a 9mm semiautomatic handgun loaded with nine rounds of ammunition. Investigators soon learned that it had been reported stolen from its registered owner, a Massachusetts resident, in the mid-1990s. An additional six spent shell casings were also recovered in the vicinity of the initial altercation.

Innocent, etc.