Ryan Larkin, 35, of Tuxedo Park, NY, told Officer Ryan Holdsworth that he needed the .40-caliber Glock 35 -- with a high-capacity magazine -- “for the purpose of protecting himself and his girlfriend from others,” Saddle River Police Chief Jason Cosgriff said following the noontime arrest on Friday, Sept. 9.
Larkin apparently was taking his girlfriend to The Valley Hospital following an undetermined injury when he was stopped. The Waldwick Volunteer Ambulance Corps brought her there while police arrested Larkin.
As a felon with previous convictions for robbery and burglary, Larkin is classified as a “certain person” prohibited from in any way possessing a firearm, said the chief, who was at the scene of the stop on Manhattan Avenue just off Route 17 in Waldwick.
High-capacity magazines are also illegal in New Jersey.
There was also the matter of the varying amounts of heroin, Xanax, Clonazepam, crack, and suboxone that the chief said was found in the Honda CRV, along with numerous wax folds, plastic bags, scales and other tools to prepare and distribute the drugs.
Larkin, meanwhile, was charged with various drug and weapons offenses and sent to the Bergen County Jail to await a first appearance in Central Judicial Processing Court in Hackensack.
He also received summonses for tailgating, failing to maintain a lane and having fictitious license plates.
The Bergen County Sheriff’s Office and Waldwick police assisted, the chief noted.
City Wide Towing impounded the Honda.
Click here to follow Daily Voice North Hunterdon and receive free news updates.