Garfield security guard illegally carried gun in charter school, police say

YOU READ IT HERE FIRST: A security guard at a Garfield charter school lied when he told authorities he was a retired police officer authorized to carry a gun while working, said police, who arrested him and seized the weapon.

Photo Credit: *Cliffview Pilot File Photo*

Jerry DeMarco

02/08/2013 6:06 p.m.

Hector L. Rodriguez wasn’t carrying the gun when Garfield police were called to the Bergen Art & Science Charter School yesterday morning, Capt. Darren Sucorowski said.

Rodriguez “had indicated to the school official that he was a retired police officer and was authorized to carry the weapon,” the captain said.

That wasn’t the case, he said.

After obtaining a warrant, detectives recovered the wepon at Rodriguez’s Passaic home, he said.

Rodriguez, 47, was being held on $75,000 bail in the Bergen County Jail, charged with impersonating a police officer, carrying a weapon without a permit and carrying a weapon in an educational institution.

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