Secaucus hospital worker arrested after cache of weapons found in closet
SECAUCUS, New Jersey (WABC) -- A New Jersey hospital employee was arrested Sunday, after a large cache of firearms and ammunition were discovered inside an unlocked closet at Hudson Regional Hospital in Secaucus.
Police arrested the hospital's marketing director, 46-year-old Elmwood Park resident Reuven Alonalayoff, at Newark Liberty International Airport, on weapons charges including possession of an assault firearm and two counts of possession of a high-capacity magazine.
Three weeks ago on July 18, police responded to a bomb threat at the hospital and made a shocking discovery during a security sweep.
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While trained dogs were on site, officials report they zeroed in on the marketing director's closet. Eyewitness News is told the door to his office was locked, but his closet was unlocked, and when police opened it, they and found an alarming stash of weapons.
Investigators say they found an assault rifle, 11 handguns, and 27 rifles/shotguns. In addition, a 14-round high-capacity handgun magazine was also recovered.
The bomb threat was determined to be a hoax.
"The unsecured storage of a large cache of weaponry, especially in this location, certainly creates a risk to public safety," said Chief Dennis Miller of the Secaucus Police Department. "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."
Eyewitness News reporter Lucy Yang is told Alonalayoff was returning from an extended medical trip in Israel when he was arrested at Newark Airport.
On Monday, the hospital released a response to the arrest:
"The presence of weapons in a hospital is inexcusable beyond comprehension and contradicts our mission of care," Hudson Regional Hospital said in a statement.
There are many questions that still need to be answered, like what was the marketing director intending to do with so many weapons in his office?
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