The marketing director of a New Jersey hospital stocked a rifle equipped with a high-capacity magazine along with dozens of other guns and ammunition in an unlocked closet at his workplace. , police said on Tuesday.
The cache of weapons was found after Hudson Regional Hospital in Secaucus, NJ, received a call last month warning there was a bomb there, police said. Officials said the threat turned out to be a hoax, but a police dog involved in a hospital safety sweep prompted officers to take up arms.
The weapons recovered included 11 handguns of different calibers and 27 rifles and pistols, including a Kriss Vector .45 semi-automatic rifle with high-capacity magazine, which was obtained by police. identified as an assault rifle. Police said a magazine of 14 handgun rounds was also recovered.
On Sunday, Secaucus police arrested the chief marketing officer, Reuven Alonalayoff, at Newark Liberty International Airport and charged him with one count of possession of an offensive weapon and two counts of possession of a mass magazine. high, the town’s police chief, Dennis Miller, said in a press release.
“Insecurely storing a large cache of firearms, especially in this location, certainly poses a risk to public safety,” Sheriff Miller said in a statement. In a later interview, the sheriff said Alonalayoff was not trying to flee authorities when he was arrested at the airport.
The sheriff declined to give more details about the arrest, including how, when or why Mr. Alonalayoff brought the guns to the hospital or what his plans were for them. Agents from the federal Department of Homeland Security assisted in the arrest, the sheriff said.
Alonalayoff, 46, of Elmwood Park, NJ, could not be reached for comment. Officials said he has been released and is scheduled to appear in Hudson County Superior Court on Aug. 22. It is unclear whether he will hire an attorney.
Sheriff Miller said other guns in the arsenal found at the hospital were legal in New Jersey, but it was unclear if Alonalayoff was in legal possession of them. The investigation is continuing, he said.
“There is no threat to the public at this time,” the chief added.
A call for comment from the hospital, a private, 204-bed facility on the Hackensack River, about seven miles from Midtown Manhattan, was not returned.
Court records show Mr Alonalayoff, who is also known as Reuven Alon and Rob Alon, was among dozens of people and businesses charged with State Farm Mutual Auto Insurance last year in a federal lawsuit alleging defendants filed medical fraud charges. auto accident related services.
An attorney representing him in the lawsuit, in the Eastern District of New York, did not respond to a request for comment.
Kirsten Noyes contributed research.
