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Alerted by a tipster, the Narcotics Division detectives saw Brian Rochester, 23, “brandishing what appeared to be a short-barreled assault rifle” near the corner of 16th Avenue and Carroll Street, Public Safety Director Jerry Speziale said.
Rochester then put the weapon in the back seat of a car nearby and got into the front passenger seat before the vehicle pulled away, Speziale said.
After the detectives stopped the near Rosa Parks Boulevard and Pearl Street, Rochester reached for the gun, the director said.
They rushed both Rochester and the female driver, Kaelin Ramroop, also 23, of Hackensack, arresting both without further incident, he said.
They also seized the .22-caliber Mossberg 715p rifle, as well as a .22-caliber Jimenez Arms handgun with a high-capacity magazine and 41 rounds of hollow-point ammunition, Speziale said.
Both guns were loaded, he said.
Police charged Rochester and Ramroop with possession of the guns, the magazine and the ammo, as well as possession of a bag of pot.
They sent both to the Passaic County Jail to await first appearances in Central Judicial Processing Court in Paterson.
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