PROVIDENCE — After a Starsky and Hutch-style car chase, the police say they have caught a man on the median strip of Route 10 who was packing two handguns.

Two policemen in a cruiser chased a car onto Route 10, but they came to a screeching halt when the car abruptly stopped in the breakdown lane and a passenger jumped out. Then the car being chased took off again.

One of the policemen jumped out of the cruiser, ran after the suspect and tackled and punched him, according to a police account. The second policeman resumed the pursuit of the car into Cranston, where the driver and a second passenger were caught.

The pursuit, squealing tires, struggle and apprehensions early Wednesday were reminiscent of the rock ’em, sock ’em police melodramas that have aired on prime-time television over the years, such as Starsky and Hutch in the 1970s.

Maj. Paul C. Fitzgerald, commander of the Uniformed Division, yesterday lauded the two officers who were involved: Patrolman Matthew Jennette and Sgt. Dennis O’Brien.

“It was a great arrest, I believe,” Fitzgerald said. “That was Jennette’s third [gun-related] arrest of the month. That was a nice job.”

The arrests come amid an upsurge in gun violence. Five men were wounded in shootings during 48 hours Sunday through Tuesday.

“There’s been a lot of handguns that have been gotten this month,” Fitzgerald said of seizures by police. “And Jennette has been on a roll this month” with three gun arrests and a drug arrest.

“Sergeant O’Brien has really been working hard this month,” the major added. “He always works hard — but he’s got the results” this month.

As of Wednesday, the police have arrested 59 individuals on firearms charges this year, mostly related to handguns, according to Detective Lt. Robert Lepre, who oversees the five-member gun task force. The number of firearms confiscated exceeds 59, but that tally was not immediately available.

During the same period last year, the police had made 68 arrests on firearms charges.

Wednesday’s episode began at about 1:15 a.m., when O’Brien and Jennette, who were on patrol in the Manton section due to “the recent increase in violent crime,” according to their report, spotted what they said was a speeding car on Atwells Avenue.

The alleged speeder refused to stop, the police said, and the chase was on. Southbound on Route 10, the car abruptly stopped to let out a rear-seat passenger. The cruiser stopped, too, and Jennette jumped out and ran after the suspect. Jennette said the suspect, who was identified later as Bennie Chance, 24, of Rollings, N.C., was running with his hands tucked into his waistband as if he was trying to conceal something.

Chance ran across the grass but then crossed the highway onto the median, where Jennette said he tackled him. A struggle allegedly ensued, with Jennette saying that Chance kicked and refused to roll over and show his hands. Jennette struck the suspect in the back several times and then punched him twice in the face. Patrolman Brian Dyer then arrived and helped to get Chance handcuffed.

Chance had had two handguns stuffed into his waistband, the police said.

“O’Brien continued to chase the car, which stopped in the middle of the highway,” Fitzgerald related. “The area was flooded with cops, and they were apprehended.”

The driver and second passenger vaulted the Jersey barrier and fled into woods along Route 10, with O’Brien following. After a search of yards along Alexander Street in Cranston, they were taken into custody. O’Brien suffered a broken wrist during the foot chase, according to Fitzgerald.

Chance was charged with possession of a firearm after having been convicted of a crime of violence, carrying a firearm without a license, simple assault on a police officer and resisting arrest.

In North Carolina, according to a records check, Chance was convicted of having discharged a firearm in an occupied motor vehicle.

The two guns he is accused of having are a Beretta 9mm and a .45-caliber, both of which were loaded.

The driver, John H. Silva, 26, of 208 Narragansett Ave., in the Reservoir neighborhood, was charged with reckless eluding. The second passenger, a West End man, was released.

“We continue to focus on guns and gun violence,” Fitzgerald said. It is police policy to try to deter gun violence by having certain criminals prosecuted federally.

As an armed felon, Chance is a candidate for federal prosecution, Fitzgerald said, which would expose him to a potentially longer prison term if he is convicted than he might face in state court.

The arrest has been brought to the attention of the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, which evaluates cases for presentation to the U.S. attorney.

“We’re just trying to get the word out, leave the guns at home,” Fitzgerald said. If a gun is not readily at hand, then it won’t be used impulsively, he pointed out.

gsmith@projo.com