15-year-old Paterson boy had two loaded handguns on 12th Avenue
By Jayed Rahman
Published: October 26, 2020
A 15-year-old Paterson boy carrying a black bag that later turned out to contain two loaded handguns was walking down the sidewalk of 12th Avenue on Saturday evening.
Police had learned about the boy’s activities from a concerned citizen. Police officer Jensin Burgos saw him at about 6:10 p.m. carrying his bag on 12th Avenue and East 24th Street.
The boy, acting suspicious, tried to avoid Burgos.
Burgos exited his marked police car and tried to speak to the boy. But the boy tried to avoid the officer and began to run towards an alleyway. Realizing he had been caught, the boy discarded the black bag and a handgun fell out.
Burgos arrested the boy and recovered the black bag, which contained two loaded Taurus 9MM semi-automatic handguns. He also recovered 100 rounds, including 50 hollow nose bullets.
“Officer Burgos was able to quickly piece the information together and removed two dangerous and deadly high power weapons from our streets,” said public safety director Jerry Speziale.
Burgos called a back up unit and had the boy transported to police headquarters for processing. The boy, whose name is being withheld because of his age, was charged with possession of stolen property, unlawful possession of a firearm, and unlawful possession of a defaced firearm.
Speziale said one handgun was reported stolen and the other one was defaced with an obliterated serial number.