An 18-year-old Newark man was arrested last night by Essex County sheriff’s detectives, and weapons and drug charges were filed against him.
According to authorities, officers from Patrol Division were conducting uniformed quality of life operations in the area of West Side Park on Thursday evening when a 2007 Dodge Charger with illegally tinted windows passed their marked cruiser and turned south onto South 10th Street.
Officials say a motor vehicle stop was executed at the Brenner Street intersection where Tasheem Staggers, 18, of Newark, was sweating profusely and could not produce a valid driver’s license.
Police said while the odor of raw marijuana emanated from the vehicle, officers observed on the front passenger seat a black fanny pack with a significant amount of cash and a silver grinder with leafy residue protruding from it.
According to authorities, the fanny pack also contained three Oxycodone tablets and $486 in cash. Under the vehicle’s rear seat our officers also discovered and seized a 9mm Glock 19 semi-automatic handgun with an extended capacity magazine that was fully loaded with 30 rounds of illegal hollow point bullets.
Officers charged Staggers with the unlawful possession of a weapon, possession of hollow point bullets, possession of a large capacity magazine, possession of a controlled dangerous substance and possession of CDS paraphernalia. The suspect was also issued motor vehicles for tinted windows, the inability to produce a driver’s license and CDS in a motor vehicle.
Officials say Staggers was lodged at the county jail where he awaits a bail hearing.