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Officers Matt Buonacore and Frank Federico stopped the 2015 Dodge Challenger for several traffic violations on the southbound highway shortly after 4:30 p.m. Wednesday, Police Chief Stephen Jaffe said.
As driver Guilherme Desouza Mendes, 19, retrieved documents from the glove compartment, the officers noticed a box of ammunition, Jaffe said.
The passenger, Tyrone K. Williams, 20, “acknowledged to the officers [that] there was a loaded assault rifle in the trunk,” Jaffe said.
They retrieved the loaded .40-caliber Hi-Point carbine rifle – but that wasn’t all.
In an open Cheetos bag on the driver’s floorboard was another loaded weapon, a 9mm Glock reported stolen out of Lillington, NC, the chief said.
On the passenger floorboard they found another 9mm handgun, a Taurus, loaded with a 30-round capacity magazine, along with two more mags – one standard and the other also holding 30 rounds – as well as loose ammo scattered around, he said.
The officers weren’t done, though.
In the glove compartment Buonacore and Federico found a loaded .22-caliber handgun, Jaffe said.
The officers also found another box of ammo, a ski mask and $4,662 in cash, he said.
They arrested the Spring Lake, NC pair and sent them to the Bergen County Jail to await first appearances in Central Judicial Processing Court in Hackensack on various illegal weapons and ammo charges, as well as for receiving stolen property.
DeSouza Mendes also received several traffic summonses.
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