Three adults, a male and two females, were arraigned this morning on weapons charges following their arrest on Friday by Essex County sheriff’s officers.
A sawed-off and defaced .22 caliber rifle was also found strapped to the right leg under the pants of a 17-year-old male during the incident.
Sheriff Armando Fontoura stated that officers from his department’s Patrol Division conducted a motor vehicle stop late Friday morning at the intersection of South Orange Avenue and 10th Street, where they observed a 2014 rented Kia Rio blocking traffic in the area.
Upon pulling the vehicle over, Sheriff Fontoura said the officers observed as the front passenger, Markell Buchanan, 24, of East Orange, tossed the driver’s - Tatyana Sessoms, 18 - black pocketbook into the back seat.
The contents of the pocketbook spilled out and the sheriff’s officers could see the butt of a handgun protruding from the bag. Buchanan, Sessoms, Ashmede Lespinas, 18 of Newark, and the male juvenile, a Newark resident, were ordered out of the Kia and a routine pat-down for officer safety was conducted.
The juvenile was found to have strapped a fully loaded, .22 caliber, Remington rifle to his right leg. Recovered from the car’s backseat was a loaded, .22 caliber, New England Firearms revolver. The male juvenile was charged with the unlawful possession of a weapon, the unlawful possession of a rifle, possession of a defaced weapon and weapon manufacturing. He was also found to be the subject of an open warrant for violation of his probation.
The juvenile was lodged at the Essex County Youth Detention Facility where he awaits a hearing in Family Court on the new charges. Buchanan, Sessoms and Lespinas were each charged with one count of the unlawful possession of a weapon.
At today’s arraignment, Judge Marilyn Williams set bail at $55,000 on Buchanan and $35,000 each on Sessoms and Lespinas.
The adult suspects were remanded to the county jail.