First on 13: Saratoga Springs Police intercept planned bar shooting

Police in Saratoga Springs exclusively tell NewsChannel 13 they potentially saved lives when they pulled over a suspected drunk driver on Spring Street last Saturday morning.

Police say they arrested 39-year-old Kalvin Lamar Pittman of Amsterdam for driving drunk around 1:45 a.m. on Mar. 5. Inside his car, police found a loaded nine-millimeter handgun which he had illegally. They also say they recovered more than 10 rounds of ammunition with an ammunition feeding device.

That same night, two witnesses separately told police a man with the same out-of-state license plate was headed to Gaffney’s Bar with a gun to settle an earlier fight, according to the city’s Public Safety Commissioner, Jim Montagnino.

"Thanks to the proactive work of our dedicated SSPD officers, we were able to make an arrest and prevent what could have turned into a very dangerous situation," SSPD Chief Shane Crooks tells NewsChannel 13.

Montagnino says police have stationed 10 officers near Caroline Street on weekend nights for just that reason. He believes police intercepted a situation that could have been much worse if they had not pieced the situation together before it was too late.

“If he had managed to get back to the bar with that handgun, and said what he set out to do, who knows. There could be a dozen casualties,” said Montagnino. “It seems that if it hadn’t been for the careful attention to detail that the officers all displayed that night, and the quick responses that were made, it could have been a very ugly scene.”

Montagnino says Pittman is believed to have prior felony convictions from out of state.

Police say Pittman is being held at Saratoga County Jail after he did not pay $30,000 cash bail or $60,000 bond.

He’s facing seven charges related to the traffic stop, which also include possession of cocaine.