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Officer Jeffrey Welsh and Kris Duci stopped the Paterson cab after the driver failed to signal a turn at the intersection of West Broadway and Chamberlain Avenue shortly after noon Wednesday, Sept. 21, Capt. George Guzman Jr. said.
The officers immediately noticed that the rear-seat passenger -- identified in records as Miguel Ortiz, a 23-year-old Dominican national from Paterson -- wasn't wearing a seatbelt, the captain said.
The officers then discovered that Ortiz was wanted out of Pennsylvania, Guzman said.
Assisted by Corporal Jake Rutkowski, the officers found a 9mm Century Arms TP9 handgun loaded with 11 rounds -- two of which were hollow points -- under Ortiz's seat, he said.
It had been reported stolen, the captain said.
The driver was allowed to go without incident while Ortiz was taken into custody, he said.
Police charged him with weapons offenses, as well as possession of a high-capacity magazine and illegal ammunition, Guzman said. They also issued a summons for not wearing a seatbelt before sending Ortiz to the Passaic County Jail, he said.
Haledon Police Chief Angelo J. Daniele noted that the Quality of Life Division in which the officers work, combined with other crime-prevention efforts, "are not the flavor of the year, but, rather, an everlasting philosophy."
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