Police: DWI Motorist Drove Through Closed GWB Construction Lane With Gun

FORT LEE, N.J. -- A DWI motorist who drove through a closed construction area on the George Washington Bridge had a loaded gun in the car, said Port Authority police who arrested him and his passenger before dawn Friday.

PAPD: Officers found a fully loaded Phoenix Arms .22-caliber semiautomatic handgun and a bottle of cognac.
Photo Credit: *COURTESY: Port Authority PD*

Jerry DeMarco

09/29/2017 4:03 p.m.

Darius E. Washington, 31, of Queens, and his passenger, 25-year-old Kashiem Johnson of New Rochelle, also had an open bottle of cognac in the vehicle, the authority's Joseph Pentangelo said.

Washington failed a breath test -- and was found to have an active warrant -- after officers stopped his 2017 Lexus as 1:40 a.m., Pentangelo said.

Inside the car, officers found a fully loaded Phoenix Arms .22-caliber semiautomatic handgun.

Washington was ordered held in the Bergen County Jail on weapons charges. He also received summonses for DWI, careless driving, reckless driving and having an open container of alcohol in a motor vehicle.

Johnson, meanwhile, was released pending a detention hearing.

Click here to follow Daily Voice Fort Lee and receive free news updates.