Motorist in Truck Packed With Guns Told Cops He Was Rushing to Save Teen, Sources Say

Three people were in the truck when it was stopped at the Holland Tunnel.

ByABC News
June 21, 2016, 6:13 PM

— -- A motorist stopped with a trove of guns and knives in his truck while heading into the Holland Tunnel en route to New York City claimed to police he was rushing to "rescue" a teenage girl who recently overdosed, sources said.

Police recovered seven guns — including rifles and handguns — as well as four knives, 10 clips of ammunition, body armor and a military-grade helmet from the bright-colored truck owned by John Cramsey, a police source said.

An image of the vehicle seized by police at the New Jersey side of Holland Tunnel, on June 21, 2016.

The number of weapons in the truck raised suspicions, and the Joint Terrorism Task Force was called, but two law enforcement officials told ABC News there does not appear to be a link to terrorism.

The reason for the large number of weapons was not immediately clear.

Cramsey was stopped during Tuesday morning's rush hour at the New Jersey toll plaza for the tunnel — which runs from Jersey City to lower Manhattan — with two others, a man named Dean Smith and a 29-year-old woman.

Cramsey -- whose own daughter died from an accidental heroin overdose, according to the medical examiner -- told police he was driving to New York City to "rescue" a 16-year-old girl from a drug den, sources said.

An employee at a Pennsylvania gun range owned by Cramsey told ABC News that ever since his daughter’s recent death, Cramsey has been on a mission to save others from a similar fate.

A police source said the teenager Cramsey claimed he was headed to save told authorities, “I don’t need to be rescued.”

This July 7, 2006 file photo shows The New Jersey entrance into the Holland Tunnel in New York.
Justin Lane/EPA

Police stopped the group at the toll plaza Tuesday morning because their truck had a cracked windshield, Port Authority Police said.

A Port Authority police officer then spotted a gun on a seat in the truck, officials said.

All three suspects were charged with weapons possession and are being held at the Hudson County, New Jersey, jail.