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YONKERS, N.Y. A Manhattan man who is currently jailed in New York Citys Rikers Island on charges of attempted murder of two police officers is under investigation in connection with a stockpile of assault weapons and ammunition found Wednesday night in the basement of a Yonkers home, according to reports.
Yonkers police said Thursday they found numerous handguns, rifles, high capacity magazines and approximately 5,000 rounds of ammunition in the home of 22 Alder St., Wednesday evening after reports of a suspicious package.
Police said a New York City Police Department identification card and police department badges were also recovered at the scene along with numerous military-type smoke canisters. NBC News reported that a landlord of the six-family residence discovered the weapons in a storage room after he went to check on the space because rent had not been paid for the storage.
While police have refused to name the suspect, multiple reports have identified the man as 53-year-old Antonio Olmeda, a Manhattan man jailed in December 2011 on attempted murder charges after allegedly shooting two police officers in Queens.
According to courts records, Olmeda was also charged with ammunition possession in North Carolina and pleaded guilty. He was sentenced to 18 months in prison.
In 1994, after Olmeda was arrested on charges of soliciting a prostitute, New York City Police found a cache of weapons inside his van, including a flame-thrower, 18 pipe bombs, machetes, a gas mask and ammunition for Uzi sub machine guns, among other weapons and ammunition, the New York Daily News reported. He served four years in prison and was paroled in 2008, the report said.
In Yonkers, the FBI, Yonkers Police and NYPD continue to investigate Wednesday night's findings after Yonkers Police Emergency Service Unit and the Intelligence Unit responded to the scene along with members of the FBI, the Westchester County Bomb Squad and members of the NYPD.
Lucien Chalfen, spokesperson for the Westchester County District Attorneys Office, said no charges have yet been filed against the suspect in Westchester but confirmed he was incarcerated in the New York City jail.
Meanwhile, residents who were evacuated during the search were allowed to return to their homes Thursday morning.
Felicia Bertolini, her husband and two children have lived at their 20 Alder St., home for three years. Bertolini said it was frightening to know that an apparent stockpile of assault weapons was being stored just feet from her home and young children.
I guess you never know who youre living next to, she said.
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