Three Mashpee men were arrested after an early morning New Year's traffic stop led to a brief foot chase and yielded a semiautomatic pistol and double-edged knife.

Wareham Police Officer Nathan Aronson stopped a vehicle with a defective headlight on Cranberry Highway in East Wareham at approximately 1:30 a.m. on January 1, according to a Wareham Police statement. Aronson also noticed that the vehicle had failed the required Registry of Motor Vehicles inspection.

While speaking with the driver, 22-year-old Justin Groom of Thornberry Circle in Mashpee, Aronson noticed a double-edged knife on the vehicle's front seat, which was within reach of Groom and two other occupants of the vehicle, who were later identified as William Branch, 21, of Holly Street in Mashpee, and Ryan Cushing, 23, of Main Street in Mashpee, according to police.

"For safety reasons, the occupants were removed from the vehicle," according to the police statement.

Cushing, who was observed reaching into his waistband area, then ran from the scene, leading Wareham Police Officer Daniel Henderson on a brief foot chase, according to police.

Henderson arrested Cushing after the suspect injured his ankle. The officer found a .380 semiautomatic pistol on the ground next to Cushing, police said.

Cushing was charged with possession of a loaded firearm without a permit and possession of a dangerous weapon (the double-edged knife).

Groom and Branch were arrested at the scene of the traffic stop and charged with possession of the double-edged knife.

Officers also seized $1,400 from Groom after a narcotics-detection trained police dog alerted officers to the presence of illegal drugs on the cash, according to police.

The three suspects were bailed and scheduled to appear in Wareham District Court on January 3.