According to police, on December Wednesday at approximately 8:42 p.m., Officers Chris Lensi and Earl Biddy of the Street Crimes Unit were in an unmarked car on Springfield Avenue in the Vauxhall section of town.
Officials say the police officers saw a car with illegally tinted windows and stopped the vehicle on Maple Avenue.
According to police, there were four men in the car and the officers detected the odor of marijuana emanating from the vehicle.
The officers’ investigation into the source of the marijuana smell led them to find prescription cough syrup in cups with soda mixed in and a Highpoint .45 caliber handgun, according to police.
The officers started to arrest the men, but one of the men ran from the stop to avoid arrest, but police say they arrested three men for the possession of the gun and illegal prescription medicine.
While other officers were searching for the man who ran, authorities say they found additional drugs (marijuana & Promethazine.)
Police say a loaded Smith & Wesson .380 handgun and a Ruger .45 caliber handgun were also located.
Stolen credit cards were found in possession of a passenger, ski masks and latex gloves were found in the car.
The men under arrest are:
• Bilal Patterson (driver), 25, Maplewood, Isaiah Gavin, 20, from Maplewood, and Daquan Berger, 26, Newark.
They all were charged with illegal possession of the three handguns and possession of the various illegal drugs in the car. Gavin had the additional charge of possession of the four stolen credit cards. Gavin also was wanted in East Orange, Irvington, & Newark for other crimes and had arrest warrants from the other police departments.
They were being held at the Union Police Department headquarters until they were sent to the Union County Jail, where they will have a bail hearing. The 4th person who ran was not found, but he gave his real name to the officers before he ran away.
Police say they were able to confirm his identity and have signed criminal complaints against Kenneth Newton, 22, with addresses in Maplewood and Newark.
Detectives and Street Crimes Unit officers are looking for Mr. Newton. Detectives are investigating to determine the source of the guns and they are also looking to see if the men fit the description of any recent armed robberies in which the suspects wore similar masks and latex gloves.