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Officers Peter Pelle and Angelo Calabro stopped the black Chrysler van North Main Street for several traffic violations, Sheriff Richard Berdnik said.
As he exited the van, front-seat passenger Dontre Williams, 19, suddenly reached into his jacket, Berdnik said.
Calabro immediately grabbed Williams, patted him down and pulled a 9mm Taurus G3c semi-automatic handgun from the jacket, Berdnik said.
As Calabro took him into custody, Pelle grabbed the driver, Rashon Q. Gillison, 34, who the sheriff said was also carrying a 9mm, this one a SCCY CPX-1 semi-automatic handgun with a red-dot sight and a defaced serial number.
Gillison, whose driver’s license was suspended, also was carrying 21 Percocet pills, he said.
A search of the van turned up more pills and two zip-locking bags of pot, Berdnik said.
City police, along with Passaic County sheriff's officers and prosecutor's detectives, have focused on taking illegal guns off the streets during the deadliest year in the Silk City in three decades.
A man who was found shot dead in a gas station parking lot on Wednesday became the 23rd victim gunned down in the Paterson this year.
Some Blame COVID: Paterson Man Gunned Down, City Homicides Break 30-Year High
Williams and Gillison were sent to the Passaic County Jail to await first appearances in Central Judicial Processing Court on drug and weapons charges. Gillison also received several traffic summonses.
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