CHICOPEE - A Holyoke man accused of firing several shots while his car was on fire and in front of an off-duty Chicopee Police lieutenant was arrested Sunday.

Jonathan Roman-Miranda, 22, was arrested Sunday afternoon on a warrant charging him with assault with a dangerous weapon, discharge of a firearm on a highway and disorderly conduct, Massachusetts State Police said.

The incident started shortly before 3 a.m. when Roman-Miranda's 2005 Nissan Altma burst into flames on Interstate 391. Several people stopped to help, including an off-duty Chicopee Police lieutenant, state police said.

The driver of the Altima got out of the car and started banging on the passenger side window, when the lieutenant asked if anyone else was in the vehicle. Others who had stopped to help also started banging on the windows, police said.

"The driver then went to the front of the vehicle and pulled a firearm from his waistband, pointed it in the air and fired several shots. This occurred with a number of bystanders in the immediate vicinity," police said.

When Trooper Jacob Sheehan responded to the fire, he found the flaming car and two other vehicles parked behind it. Witnesses told him the the driver of the Altima had left the area, police said.

It was unclear in police reports if there was a passenger in the car.

Chicopee Police then contacted Sheehan and said the lieutenant, who was unarmed and not working, had also left the scene after the suspect fired the gun, police said.

Shortly after Sheehan arrived, Chicopee firefighters responded and extinguished the blaze, Police said.

Police closed the northbound lanes of Interstate-391 until about 6 a.m. so officers could search for the suspect with a K-9 and remove the destroyed car from the breakdown lane, police said.

State Police detectives from Hampden County and troopers assigned to the Firearms Identification Section and Crime Scene Services Section were called to the scene to investigate and found multiple shell casings, police said.

Investigators later identified the driver as Roman-Miranda and determined he has a license to carry a firearm.

They received a warrant and later Sunday he was arrested by a number of State Police troopers from the Violent Fugitive Apprehension Section, Special Tactical Operations Team, Springfield Barracks and Hampden County Detectives. Police also searched his apartment and allegedly recovered a firearm.

Roman-Miranda is being held on $15,000 bail and is scheduled to be arraigned in Chicopee District Court on Monday, police said.