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Jeremy W. Barringer, 46, also had an empty handgun holster on his hip when Mantoloking and Bay Head officers asked him to step out of the vehicle following the 3 a.m. single-vehicle crash on Oct. 24 near Herbert Street, Acting U.S. Attorney Rachael A. Honig said.
In plain view on the backseat floorboard was a 5.56-millimeter semi-automatic rifle that turned out to be loaded with 21 "full metal jacket" rounds, Honig said.
A warranted search following Barringer's arrest in Mantoloking that morning turned up a 9-millimeter semi-automatic pistol with no serial number (commonly referred to as a “ghost gun”), the U.S. attorney said. It was loaded with 14 rounds of hollow-point ammunition, the U.S. attorney said.
Also found were three 9-millimeter pistol magazines -- also loaded with hollow points -- and three 30-round rifle magazines loaded with 5.56-millimeter ammo, she said.
Daily Voice first reported the arrest based on a brief local police report.
SEE: Convicted NJ Sex Offender In Body Armor Busted With Loaded Rifle, Guns, Ammo: Police
The arrest and seizure then literally became a federal case.
The FBI took over and charged Barringer with illegally possessing a loaded semi-automatic rifle as a previously convicted felon, Honig said.
Barringer was convicted more than 20 years ago in a sex-crime spree that included breaking into apartments and sexually assaulting multiple women, according to reports from the time.
He confessed to three of the attacks at the time, although authorities at the time said they suspected his involved in 10 or so others.
A U.S. magistrate judge in Trenton ordered that Barringer remain in federal custody in connection with the guns and ammo seizure.
Honig, meanwhile, credited special agents of the FBI's Newark Division and Mantoloking and Bay Head police with the investigation leading to the charges. She also thanked detectives from the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office, officers from the Ocean County Sheriff’s Office and Toms River police for their assistance.
Handling the case for her office is Assistant U.S. Attorney Ian D. Brater of Honig's Criminal Division in Trenton.
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ALSO SEE: A bicycle-riding ex-con who tossed a gun as he tried to evade pursuing Newark police officers was sentenced Monday to a plea-bargained 32 months in federal prison. READ MORE....
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