SPRINGFIELD -- Akwon Salaam, reputed gang member and professed sovereign citizen, is being held on $5,000 bail after being ruled competent to stand trial in a motor vehicle theft case.

Salaam, 31, of Springfield, proclaimed his freedom from the nation's laws during his arraignment last week on five charges, including receiving a stolen motor vehicle, leaving the scene of a property damage accident and failing to stop for police.

Speaking from the defendant's dock, Salaam identified himself as a member of the sovereign citizens' movement, which considers the nation's government to be illegitimate and refuses to be bound by its laws.

Salaam failed to mention his alleged membership in second group: The Sycamore Street Posse, a Springfield street gang whose members have been convicted in shootings, drug dealing and other crimes. In court documents, Salaam is described as an "active member" of the gang with a history of drug and motor vehicle arrests.

The events leading to Salaam's latest arrest began on Dec. 30 when police allegedly spotted him driving a Nissan Altima with an extinguished headlight. A chase ensued and Salaam eventually jumped from the still-running vehicle and disappeared into an apartment building at 109 School St., according to the arrest report.

The car had been reported stolen earlier that evening, and police identified Salaam from a prescription pill bottle left in the center cupholder. A summons was issued for him to report to Springfield District Court for arraignment in January, but he failed to appear, records show.

Four months later, on May 19, he turned himself in and was held for arraignment on May 22.

After hearing bail arguments, Judge Michele Ouimet-Rooke ordered Salaam held on $5,000 bail. After hearing Salaam expound on his prerogatives as a sovereign citizen, she ordered him held for a psychiatric evaluation.

On Tuesday, a court psychologist found him competent to stand trial. Salaam, who also goes by the name James Moore Akwon Salaam, is due back in court for a pretrial hearing on June 22.