Jersey City authorities say a complaint of loud music on Thursday night led police to undercover an illegal weapons distribution operation in a vacant apartment located at 6 Rutgers Avenue.
According to city spokesperson Kimberly Wallace-Scalcione, nine people, which included two minors, were arrested after the police department’s Violent Crimes Unit, Intel Violent Crime Initiative Unit and Street Crimes Unit responded to the building at 11:30 pm. Wallace-Scalcione says police recovered two handguns, ammunition, along with several keys inside a bag hidden in a kitchen oven that appeared to belong to stolen cars.
Arrested and charged were 30-year old Kayla Lopez, 20-year old Shai Young, 19-year old Trezzure Hoffman, 19-year old Messiah Hudson, 22-year old Aliquan Easterling, 20-year old Jameer Lewis, as well as a 17-year-old girl. They are all Jersey City residents. Each was charged with burglary of a weapon, possession of a handgun for an unlawful purpose, unlawful possession of a handgun, possession of a defaced firearm and possession of an illegal ammunition magazine. In addition, Easterling and Lewis have been charged with possession of dum-dum bullets and tampering with evidence.
