Judge Won't Throw Out Evidence In Holland Tunnel Weapons Case
JERSEY CITY, N.J. (CBSNewYork/AP) -- A New Jersey judge has declined to throw out evidence obtained during a traffic stop of three Pennsylvania residents who said they were on a rescue mission to help save a teenager from a New York heroin den when they were stopped with a cache of weapons outside of the Holland Tunnel last June.
Judge Mitzy Galis-Menendez announced her decision publicly in court on Monday in Jersey City.
John Cramsey, Dean Smith and Kimberly Arendt, all of Pennsylvania, were stopped on their way to help a teen girl who had sent a message to Arendt, her former camp counselor, after a friend died of an overdose in a hotel room. They have pleaded not guilty to weapon possession charges.
Galis-Menendez said a Port Authority of New York and New Jersey police officer had probable cause to stop the car at the Holland Tunnel. The officer said he stopped them over a windshield crack and objects hanging from the rearview mirror, but the defendants argued it's more likely they were pulled over because they were driving a truck adorned with crosshairs and pro-Second Amendment decals.
The flashy black rig with bright lime green trim advertised the Higher Ground Tactical gun range near Allentown, Pennsylvania, owned by Cramsey.
The judge gave prosecutors until Friday to offer plea deals to the defendants.
"The prosecutor's office is in a hard position, because of all the notoriety this case has gotten they want to make a fair offer but they want to make an offer that is deemed to be equitable under the circumstances. Obviously my client is at the center of all of this. I don't believe the state will be as harsh to the two other defendants as they will to my guy," Cramsey's lawyer, James Lisa, said. "We aren't accepting any deal that would involve state prison."
If no plea deal is arranged, the trial will begin in April.
The story already has ended tragically for the teen at the center of the case.
Jenea Patterson, 18, died of an apparent drug overdose last month at a hospital near Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, according to her father, James Patterson.
"When I went down to get her in New York, I told her right then and there this is a warning sign for you,'' Patterson said. "I grabbed her and I held her in my arms and I said 'You've gotta get out of the game, Jenea, death is knocking at your door.'''
Patterson said the older of his two daughters had a good heart and enjoyed helping others, but started abusing prescription pills when she was 13. She later started using heroin and was sent to a program for troubled youth in 2014, where she met Arendt. But Patterson said his daughter got worse after leaving.
"I begged people, if you let that child on the street, she's going to die.'' Patterson said. "Here we are two years later, I'm burying my daughter.''
Cramsey's 20-year-old daughter, Alexandria, died from a heroin overdose last February and friends say he had been suffering from enormous guilt, channeling it into an "enough is enough" campaign and placing signs on his truck that said "shoot your local heroin dealer."
Grief stricken after the death of his daughter, Cramsey became an anti-drug crusader, starting a group of concerned parents and going on rescue missions to help addicts get into treatment. He owned a gun range in Pennsylvania but did not have a permit in New Jersey to transport five handguns, a shotgun and semi-automatic military-style rifle.
"I would tell the judge to let him go,'' Patterson said. "The man, all he was trying to do was to help a child. They just need to drop the charges. He's doing the job that (law enforcement) should be doing.''
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