Monroe Man Allegedly Intended to Sell Guns to Drug Dealer

A Monroe man caught in possession of five guns, including two assault weapons that investigators suspect he intended to sell to a drug dealer was arrested.

The arrest was made by the Statewide Urban Violence Cooperative Crime Control Task Force.

According to Bridgeport police, members of the task force were conducting surveillance in the area of North and Park avenues in Bridgeport when they noticed a white pickup truck parked in the lot of a nearby fast-food restaurant.

The driver, however, never exited the vehicle and was looking around as if he was waiting for someone, police said.

Officers suspected he might be waiting to purchase narcotics, police said. Task force members followed the man once he pulled out of the parking lot and contacted a patrol officer to pull over the driver for a seatbelt violation.

According to police, when the officer activated his lights and sirens, the driver, later identified as Robert Nolan, 30, of Monroe, made an abrupt turn into a Benham Avenue driveway. After initially ignoring officers’ instructions, Nolan exited the car and police saw a gun holster on his hip and detained him.

As police investigated further, they recovered a loaded .40-caliber handgun and two magazines, two AR-15-style assault weapons and a .308 sniper rifle loaded with tracer rounds, according to police.

Nolan allegedly told police that the guns belonged to him and that over the last few years had been purchasing guns in Vermont where gun laws are less strict.

“Mr. Nolan said he came to Bridgeport to meet a friend, who was going to hook him up with a drug dealer who was willing to pay him between $5,000 and $10,000 for the weapons,” Bridgeport Police Chief Joseph L. Gaudett Jr. said in a press release. “He also indicated that he was addicted to heroin.”

Nolan faces five counts of illegal possession of a weapon in a motor vehicle, five counts of illegal possession of a firearm, two counts of carrying a pistol without a permit, five counts of attempted illegal sale of a firearm, five counts of attempted firearms trafficking, two counts of possession of an assault weapon, two counts of transportation of a loaded assault weapon in a motor vehicle and six counts of possession of an illegal high-capacity magazine.

He was jailed on a $500,000 bond.

“This is the latest example of why Washington needs to act now to strengthen gun laws. This is a drug addicted individual who couldn’t legally buy guns in Connecticut so, by his own account, traveled to Vermont where gun laws are less strict,” Bridgeport Mayor Bill Finch said in a statement. “And, if not for the actions of police, these guns would have been in the hands of a drug dealer today.”

Images courtesy Bridgeport PD