39 Guns Found In Closet At North Jersey Hospital; Employee Charged

SECAUCUS, NJ — Update: All Gun Charges Dropped Against Ex-Secaucus Hospital Marketing Exec. (Aug. 16, 2023)

The marketing director of Hudson Regional Hospital in Secaucus was charged Sunday after law enforcement officials discovered 28 rifles and 11 handguns in an unlocked closet in an office, the Secaucus police said.

Reuven Alonalayoff, 46, of Elmwood Park, was charged with possession of an assault firearm and
two counts of possession of a high capacity magazine.

He was arrested at Newark Liberty International Airport with assistance from the United States Department of Homeland Security Investigations, police said.

Secaucus Police Chief Dennis Miller declined on Monday to say why Alonalayoff was at the airport, but said he was not trying to leave the country. "The investigation is ongoing," he said.

An investigation began after a bomb threat was called in to the hospital on July 18 at 3:10 p.m. Several other bomb threats were called to various locations around the state that afternoon, including at the Hoboken ShopRite.

Bomb detection canines from the Hudson County Sheriff’s Office and Bayonne Police Department swept the hospital.

While the threat was "later determined to be a hoax," officials said, a bomb-sniffing dog "gave a positive indication on an unlocked closet within an office."

Upon entering the closet, police discovered a large cache of rifles, shotguns and handguns, along with ammunition.

Police said they found 11 handguns of various calibers, 27 rifles/shotguns, and a Kriss Vector .45 caliber semi-automatic rifle with a high-capacity magazine that was "determined to be an assault rifle," police said.

They also seized a 14 round high-capacity handgun magazine.

“The unsecured storage of a large cache of weaponry, especially in this location, certainly creates a risk to public safety,” said Chief Miller.

He added, “I commend the efforts and professionalism of all the police personnel involved in this investigation and am thankful this situation was resolved without anyone being harmed.”

He declined to release further information, pending the outcome of the investigation.