A Hollis man was indicted by a Queens grand jury on gun charges after a cache of weapons was found in his vehicle during a traffic stop near LaGuardia Airport in East Elmhurst last month.
Judd Sanson, 27, of Jamaica Avenue, was arraigned in Queens Supreme Court on Tuesday on a 20-count indictment charging him with multiple counts of criminal possession of a weapon after an arsenal was found along with body armor in the vehicle.
An NYPD patch and an orange reflective MTA vest were also recovered, as well as an expandable baton with the words “Left Me No Choice,” “You Gon Learn Today,” and an Arabic expression that means “Ask in God For Forgiveness” written on the handle.
The New York Joint Terrorism Task Force and other law enforcement agencies were informed about the case.
“The borough of Queens has two major airports and must always be kept safe,” Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz said. “When a person is pulled over and police recover a baton with inciteful language written on it, a loaded weapon, ammunition and NYPD paraphernalia, we are very concerned.”
According to the charges, on June 12, at around 1:25 a.m., Sanson was observed at 86th Street and 23rd Avenue in East Elmhurst driving a black 2013 Ford Explorer with a black film covering the rear license plate. He was stopped by an NYPD officer out of the 110th Precinct in Elmhurst who, when he approached the car, saw a black handle protruding from a holster that was strapped to Sanson’s right pants leg.
Sanson was asked if he had a knife, and he removed a black knife with a black handle from the holster and placed it near the center console of the vehicle. Police observed and recovered a black Glock semiautomatic 9 mm pistol loaded with 12 rounds of ammunition from inside a holster, which was under the driver’s seat.
Also recovered were nine loaded magazines, each capable of being loaded into a 9 mm semiautomatic pistol, and 127 rounds of 9 mm ammunition from inside a bag on the rear passenger seat. Of the nine magazines, four were large-capacity feeding devices.
The cops also found a Sabre S-1009 stun gun, a black machete, a switchblade knife, a butterfly knife, a hatchet, a black whip, and a pair of handcuffs hanging from the ceiling of the SUV. They also discovered a Guy Fawkes mask used by anarchists and members of the Occupy anticapitalist movement of 2010.
“The items recovered from this defendant’s car presented an inherent and serious threat to public safety,” Katz said. “My office has now secured a grand jury indictment against the defendant and we will continue our investigation into this matter alongside our partners in the NYPD.”
If convicted, Sanson faces up to 15 years in prison. Queens Supreme Court Justice Edwin Novillo remanded Sanson into custody without bail and ordered him to return to court on July 22.
