34°
That made five guns in all seized by Paterson police amid a series of shootings that left one man dead and 13 victims wounded in less than a week.
Sgt. Christopher Ravallese and Detective Salvatore Marotta were on COVID-19 social distancing duty at 10:50 p.m. Saturday when they tried to stop a black Mercedes on Lafayette Street that was being sought in an investigation, Police Director Jerry Speziale said.
The driver threw the car into reverse down and headed down East 16th Street, where the sedan struck a passenger vehicle at 10th Avenue before all there occupants bailed out, he said.
Backup Detective Luis Fernandez and Passaic County Prosecutor’s Detective Eugene Tolliver chased two of them.
One, identified as Deremy Colon, 22, of Garfield, tossed a gun away and was quickly taken down by the detectives, Speziale said.
The 9mm Jiminez Arms semiautomatic handgun had been reported stolen out of Florida, the director said.
Marotta, meanwhile, chased down the underage teen on 10th Avenue, he said.
Backup Detective Ronald Pizza recovered a .38-caliber Colt revolver that the boy tossed away during the chase, the director said.
The third occupant, Jancarlos Rodriguez, 19, of Paterson, also was taken into custody.
Both men were sent to the Passaic County Jail to await first appearances in Central Judicial Processing Court in Paterson.
Colon is charged with weapons offenses, and both he and Rodriguez are charged with resisting arrest and stolen property.
The boy was detained on a delinquency complaint charging him with weapons offenses, resisting arrest and joyriding pending a hearing in the Family Part of Superior Court.
The occupants of the vehicle struck by their car weren’t injured, Speziale said.
The arrests capped a week of shootings and gun arrests in the city.
All told, Paterson police seized five guns in that time span – three of them in the hands of juveniles and another on a convicted carjacker just released from prison.
SEE: Paterson Detectives Hear Gunshots, Nab Gun-Toting Ex-Con Just Out Of Prison
It began when 20-year-old city resident was killed and another wounded outside the St. Joseph's Regional Medical Center emergency room on Thursday.
Three separate shootings overnight Saturday – including another outside the hospital -- wounded five men.
SEE: Paterson Shooting Spree: Four Struck In One Incident, Hospital Area Shut Down In Another
Detectives on COVID-19 enforcement duty Saturday afternoon seized another juvenile carrying a .32-caliber long TAC revolver – also loaded -- during a drug arrest.
SEE: Paterson Detectives On Coronavirus Lockdown Patrol Seize 742 Heroin Folds, Crack, Loaded Gun
Yet another shooting was reported at 2:50 a.m. Sunday on Summer Street. The 18-year-old victim was taken to St. Joe's via private vehicle with injuries that weren't considered life-threatening, authorities said.
Police were submitting all of the recovered weapons to the New Jersey State Police Laboratory to determine what crimes they may have been used in.
Click here to follow Daily Voice Bergenfield and receive free news updates.
