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It was one of two stolen firearms recovered by the same team of investigators that day.
Detectives Yamil Pimienta, Mohammad Bashir and Mustafa Dombayci knew the 2018 Hyundai with temporary Texas license plates that they spotted on East 23rd Street near 10th Avenue had been reported stolen out of the city last month, Public Safety Director Jerry Speziale said.
They followed the vehicle and stopped it in the 300 block of East 22nd Street after the driver committed several violations, he said.
Approaching it, Pimienta saw the front passenger – later identified as Cornell Day Jr., 19 – try to hide a gun, the director said.
He alerted the other detectives and they removed Day and the young driver, secured the loaded 9mm Smith & Wesson revolver and took both into custody.
The boy was turned over to juvenile authorities and Day was sent to the Passaic County Jail to await a first appearance on illegal weapons charges, Speziale said.
Several hours later, the same detectives approached a group of men at the corner of Mercer and Warren streets and found Da’Zhier Huggins, 20, carrying a 9mm Smith & Wesson semi-automatic handgun reported stolen out of South Carolina, the director said.
They arrested Huggins, who also was sent to the county jail, while releasing the others.
Both guns were being sent to the New Jersey State Police Ballistics Unit to determine possible connections to other crimes.
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ALSO SEE: A Hawthorne woman was in critical condition after being shot several times overnight near a Paterson elementary school, authorities said.
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