3 facing weapons charges from tunnel plead not guilty
JERSEY CITY, N.J. (AP) - Two men and a woman from Pennsylvania stopped while driving with a cache of weapons and apparently on their way to try to help a teenage girl involved with drugs in New York pleaded not guilty on Wednesday.
Lawyers for John Cramsey, Dean Smith and Kimberly Arendt said the search that uncovered the weapons was illegal and that they planned to challenge the seizure.
Cramsey, 50, of Zionsville, operates a gun range outside Allentown and has become active in the fight against the heroin crisis in Pennsylvania's Lehigh Valley since his 20-year-old daughter died of an overdose in February, according to Lyn Baker, who started the group "Enough is Enough" with Cramsey.
Baker said that the group has helped dozens of drug addicts since earlier this year, including going to hotels and homes to help.
She said that Arendt, 29, of Lehighton, was the girl's former counselor and she called her seeking help on Monday. Cramsey wrote on Smith's Facebook page early Tuesday morning that he was driving to New York to "do an extraction" of a 16-year-old girl from a hotel room in Brooklyn after an issue involving drugs. Smith, 53, of Whitehall, replied: "I'm there."
One of the people told investigators that they were headed to Brooklyn to "rescue" a teenage girl before they were stopped in Jersey City, according to a law enforcement official. The official wasn't authorized to discuss the ongoing investigation and spoke to The Associated Press on the condition of anonymity.
Baker said she spoke with Cramsey around 7:30 a.m. Tuesday as he was getting ready to go through the tunnel and that he asked her to start arranging for the girl to get into a detox or rehabilitation facility.
Minutes later, Port Authority of New York and New Jersey police reported that they spotted the colorful Dodge pickup with the name of Cramsey's gun range painted on it and pulled it over after spotting a cracked windshield and things dangling from the rearview mirror, according to a criminal complaint.
Police said they recovered a semi-automatic military-style rifle, a shotgun, five handguns, high capacity magazines and other ammunition, two tactical vests and three helmets, according to the complaint. It was unclear what, if anything, the weapons had to do with their plans. Some of the weapons were loaded, authorities said.
The three pleaded not guilty to weapons and drug charges on Wednesday. Police said they found a small amount of marijuana and drug paraphernalia.
A Port Authority photo, obtained by media outlets, also showed a bag with the words "Firearms Instructor" and box with the phrase "Shoot Your Local Heroin Dealer" in the vehicle.
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Associated Press writer Josh Cornfield, in Trenton, and Michael Rubinkam, in Zionsville, Pennsylvania, contributed to this story. Balsamo reported from New York.
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This story has been corrected to show the vehicle was a pickup truck, not a van.