Newark NJ police recently made a number of arrests for weapons offenses on city streets.
According to authorities, police made four arrests and seized three guns on a single night in cases involving illegal handgun possession.
The first arrest was made around 9:00 p.m. when members of the Newark Violence Reduction Initiative, which includes the Gang Enforcement Division, NJ State Parole, and the Essex County Sheriff’s Department, reportedly busted a minor in possession of a loaded .380-caliber handgun.
The police officers were on patrol near Avon Avenue and Jeliff Avenue in Newark New Jersey when they observed a taxi run through a stop sign. Police pulled over the cab and noticed that the passenger was wearing a ski mask. Police also reportedly noticed the handle of a gun sticking out of the 17-year-old passenger’s coat pocket.
Not long after that, police officers with the Newark Cease Fire unit and the Newark Gang Enforcement unit got a tip about a man who was wanted on an outstanding warrant. The tip came from two bounty hunters who had located the 26-year-old suspect on the 100 block of Brunswick Street.
The suspect noticed the police officers approaching and reportedly tried to make a run for it.
Newark police chased after the suspect and eventually apprehended him. While arresting the suspect, police allegedly discovered him with a loaded 9-mm handgun. According to law enforcement, the gun had been reported as stolen out of North Carolina.
The suspect was charged with a number of weapons offenses, including unlawful possession of a large-capacity weapon.
A short time later, members of the Newark Model Neighborhood Initiative made an arrest while on patrol near 15th Avenue and South 19th Street. The officers noticed two people fighting while seated inside a car. When police approached the vehicle, they allegedly noticed a handgun in the glove compartment.
The two occupants of the vehicle were placed under arrest and charged with unlawful possession of an automatic handgun.
When announcing the arrests, the Newark police director commended the arresting officers for helping to keep dangerous guns off city streets.
For more information about this case, read the NJ.com article entitled “Police Seize 3 Guns in Series of Newark Arrests.”
