Lack Of License Plates Reveals Stolen Van, Loaded Gun: Secaucus Police

SECAUCUS, NJ — When a Secaucus police officer stopped a truck Sunday because it did not have license plates on it, the truck turned out to be stolen and have an illegal loaded gun inside.

At 12:02 a.m. Sunday, Aug. 21, Secaucus police officer Salvatore Manente, Jr. was on patrol on Blondel Drive when he noticed a parked Penske moving truck with two men sitting in it.

The truck did not have any license plates affixed to it.

Officer Manente approached the truck to further investigate and the driver, identified as Fabian Soto, 30, of New York, NY handed the officer a Virginia license plate.

A check of the registration revealed that the truck was reported stolen out of Cobb County, Georgia.

Soto and the passenger, identified as Fatah Iarkane, 23, of Secaucus, were both arrested.

Police Officer Justin Machno then searched the cab of the stolen truck and found a loaded 9mm handgun, along with a single .357 caliber hollow-point round of ammunition. Upon inspecting the handgun, it was discovered that the gun had not been manufactured by any one company and was classified as a “ghost gun,” since the gun parts are assembled into a functioning firearm assembled from various gun parts and all parts of the gun lack serial numbers — so its ownership cannot be tracked.

Soto and Iarkane were both charged with Receiving Stolen Property [2C:20-7], Unlawful Possession of a Handgun [2C:39-5b], Possession of Hollow Point Ammunition [2C:39-3f], Possession of Handgun Ammunition [2C:58-3.3b] and Transporting a Defaced Firearm [2C:39-9n].

Soto was also charged with Certain Persons Not to Possess a Firearm [2C:39-7B].

Iarkane had a warrant from Woodbridge Twp. with a bail of $1,000 and two from Secaucus with bails of $200 and $100, respectively. They were lodged in the Hudson County Jail.

“I want to praise the ongoing proactive efforts of the Secaucus Police Department’s night tour and its supervisors,” Secaucus Police Chief Dennis Miller said. “This arrest in a residential neighborhood is another example of how this police department is committed to proactive policing and will continue to probe suspicious activity, even while our residents are asleep, to ensure they are safe and their property is protected.”