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Officer John Bonilla stopped the driver of a gray Honda sedan for running a stop sign and then failing to signal a turn at the intersection of Burhans Avenue and Temple Street just before 3 p.m. Monday, Lt. George Guzman said.
The driver and a front-seat passenger were moving rapidly inside, Guzman said.
Bonilla and Officer Andrea Len also immediately smelled burnt marijuana once the car windows were opened, he said.
The driver, Michael Dipierro, 18, of Bloomingdale, was found carrying 40 folds of heroin, Guzman said.
His passenger, 21-year-old Jeremiah Miller of Paterson, had 20 vials of crack, the lieutenant said.
Assisted by Sgt. Frank Conca, the officers also found a substantial amount of drugs and weapons in the car, he said:
- a Ruger .357-caliber Magnum revolver, fully loaded with hollow point ammunition, which was sticking out from under the front passenger seat;
- a High Point .380-caliber handgun, which was in the middle console;
- 200 bundled folds of heroin, found in the center console under the car radio;
- Four liquid marijuana/THC/cannabis pods, which were in the middle console along with a bottle of promethazine/dextromethorphan that DiPierro didn’t have a prescription for;
- 183 empty vials commonly used to package and sell crack, which were found beneath a piece of clothing in the back seat.
Detective Sgt. George Kelly and Detective Michael Palmer interviewed the pair and charged DiPierro with various gun, ammo and drug offenses.
He was sent to the Passaic County Jail pending a hearing in Central Judicial Processing Court in Paterson.
Miller, meanwhile, was issued a summons on a pair of crack-possession charges and released pending a hearing.
DiPierro also received a host of traffic summonses.
"I commend my officers for maintaining a consistent, proactive approach toward policing,” Police Chief Angelo J. Daniele said. “These were definitely solid arrests that were handled both swiftly and professionally."
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