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Detectives were watching the area of Mary and Chadwick Streets early Wednesday night when several people went in and out of a residence, Sheriff Richard H. Berdnik said.
At one point, they saw two men talking.
One of them, 18-year-old Anthony Torres of Passaic, stuffed a bag of marijuana down his pants, as he spoke with Uriel Bartolome, 19, of Paterson , Berdnik said.
A third man -- identified as Niair Lane, 21, of Paterson -- then came out of the Mary Street residence holding a drawstring bag, he said.
The three were "continuously looking around in a suspicious manner" as they spoke before Lane "opened the drawstring bag, showing the barrel of a rifle, before quickly closing it again," the sheriff said.
The trio then left.
One of the detectives stopped and arrested Lane and recovered a DPMS assault rifle with an empty high-capacity, 30-round) magazine and a loaded .38-caliber revolver, Berdnik said.
Lane was treated at St. Joseph’s Regional Medical Center for minor scrapes sustained during the arrest, the sheriff said.
The other detectives stopped Bartolome and Torres as they hopped a bus on Main Street.
Both were carrying large amounts of marijuana worth a combined $4,000, Berdnik said.
Lane was taken to the Passaic County Jail on weapons charges and outstanding criminal warrants out of Paterson, the sheriff said.
Torres and Bartoleme were charged with drug offenses and released pending hearings.
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