According to police, the marketing director of a New Jersey hospital was detained on Sunday after officials discovered a significant stash of weapons and ammunition inside an office closet inside the medical institution. Reuven Alonalayoff, 46, has been indicted for his alleged involvement in the weapons stockpile at Hudson Regional Hospital, according to a press release issued by the Secaucus Police Department on Monday.
Alonalayoff, of Elmwood Park, is charged with unauthorized possession of an assault weapon and two counts of possessing a high-capacity magazine. When combined, these offences in New Jersey carry possible maximum terms of five to ten years in state prison, as well as extra fines.
According to authorities, Secaucus cops detained Alonalayoff at Newark Liberty International Airport over the weekend with assistance from the US Department of Homeland Security Investigations. His arrest happened many weeks after Secaucus police officers found the guns at Hudson Regional Hospital.
Reuven Alonalayoff, Hudson Regional Hospital’s marketing director, was detained after investigators discovered a stash of firearms and ammunition inside an office closet inside the New Jersey medical institution.
According to the agency, police were called to the medical institution on the afternoon of July 18 in response to a claimed bomb threat. Officers from the local Bayonne Police Department and Hudson County Sheriff’s Office investigated the facility with trained bomb dogs, eventually uncovering the stockpile of guns inside “an open cupboard inside an office” while completing their sweep.
Despite the fact that Secaucus police stated the first report was “a hoax,” the stockpile of rifles, shotguns, pistols, and ammo was declared an evident public safety danger.
“The unsecured storing of a substantial stockpile of armament, particularly in this area, presents a concern to public safety,” Secaucus police chief Dennis Miller said. “I applaud the dedication and professionalism of the police employees engaged in this inquiry, and I am grateful that no one was wounded.”
Inside the hospital closet, police claimed they found 11 pistols, 27 rifles or shotguns, and an assault weapon with a.45 caliber semi-automatic rifle and a high-capacity magazine. Officers also discovered a 14-round high-capacity pistol magazine.
A 2019 legislation reduced the amount of bullets that a high-capacity magazine in New Jersey may lawfully store from 15 to 10.