Police Find Men With Loaded Gun, Heroin On Palisades Parkway

Two men were arrested on weapon and drug charges after police investigated a suspicious vehicle on the Palisades Interstate Parkway Monday.

Lt. Jesse Cohen was on foot patrol at the Mobil rest area on the northbound Palisades Interstate Parkway when he saw a Toyota Sienna with several equipment violations, police said.

Cohen noticed a large knife in plain sight in a driver's door compartment and spoke with the driver, Jonathan Torres Vargas, 32, of Bronx, New York, who said he did not know who the vehicle owner's name nor the passenger's name police said.

Cohen then spoke to the passenger, Ruben Velazquez, 50, of New York, New York, who gave conflicting travel plans, police said.

Cohen searched Velazquez and found a magazine with five rounds of 9mm ammunition in one jacket pocket and a loaded Smith & Wesson M&P 9mm handgun in another, police said. Cohen also found suspected heroin and a cut straw in one of Velazquez's pants pockets, police said.

Police also found three pairs of gloves and three masks inside the vehicle, authorities said.

Velazquez was charged with unlawful possession of handgun, possession of a weapon with an unlawful purpose, possession of heroin and possession of drug paraphernalia. He was remanded to the Bergen County Jail in lieu of bail.

Vargas was charged with unlawful possession of a weapon and unlawful possession of a prescription legend drug, police said. He was released on a summons with a pending court date.

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Pictured: Ruben Velazquez, 50, of New York, New York and Jonathan Torres Vargas, 32, of Bronx, New York — Courtesy of Palisades Interstate Parkway Police Department/Background image via Shutterstock