Officers immediately obtained a search warrant and found a silver pistol with two magazines inside a briefcase in the back seat of their car – as well as 250 glassine envelopes of heroin stashed in a secret compartment, Hawthorne Police Detective Capt. Jeffrey Vanderhook said.
Officers took Kurtis Rumsey, 25, and Dashell Powlus, 22, into custody after stopping their vehicle on Goffle Road and finding them carrying heroin, Vanderhook said.
During the ride to headquarters “mention was made by one of the parties about a permit to carry,” the captain said. “This statement concerned officers and led them to believe there may be the possibility of a handgun in the briefcase located in the backseat of the vehicle.”
Rumsey and Powlus told police they’d set out on a 110-mile round trip to get the drugs in Paterson.
Police seized their car and cash for forfeiture and sent both to the Passaic County Jail.
Rumsey and Powlus are both charged with drug and weapons offenses.
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ALSO SEE: A Bobcat removing snow from a pedestrian bridge on Route 208 in Hawthorne fell through the span and landed on a van on the northbound highway, seriously injuring three people late Monday morning, authorities confirmed.
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