The charges have been dropped against New Jersey security guard who was arrested earlier this month for illegal possession even though he had a license for his handgun and was carrying legal ammunition.
The Union County Prosecutor’s Office (UCPO) announced in a press release on Friday that charges would be dropped against Roosevelt Twyne, the 25-year-old security guard with Brinks. As The Daily Wire previously reported, Twyne was stopped by police on February 8 for his tinted car windows. He informed officers of his weapon and was arrested for illegally carrying a firearm and being in possession of “hollow point ammunition,” even though the ammunition he had with him is specifically listed as legal on the New Jersey State Police website.
The UCPO said that Twyne did have a permit to carry the weapon, but it was subject to certain conditions. He was only supposed to carry it when he was on-duty with Brinks and that the company “will be responsible for the adequate safeguarding of the weapon during periods when employee is off duty.” Twyne had clocked out of work 16 minutes before he was pulled over.
The UCPO said that Twyne had a gun box with him and that if he had simply put the gun into the box, he wouldn’t have been charged with illegal possession. The office also seemed to admit – though it did not apologize for – that Twyne was erroneously charged with carrying illegal ammunition, writing, “although featuring a hollow nose, the specific ammunition in the possession of Mr. Twyne is not illegal under New Jersey law, due to the polymer filling inside the hollow tip.”
“In light of that investigation, this Office has concluded that, although probable cause existed to arrest and charge Mr. Twyne at the time of his arrest, it is not in the interests of justice to continue his prosecution,” the UCPO wrote. “In particular, this Office notes that the motor vehicle stop occurred shortly after Mr. Twyne had left work; that he possessed a gun box, which, if utilized, would have made it legal for him to transport the firearm home; that there is no evidence one way or another as to whether his failure to utilize the gun box was intentional; and that at no point during the motor vehicle stop did he pose any danger to the police officers involved.”
Because of the facts, the UCPO wrote that it “has elected to exercise its prosecutorial discretion and has administratively dismissed all charges pending against Mr. Twyne.”
The Washington Free Beacon’s Stephen Gutowski previously reported how difficult it is to navigate New Jersey’s gun laws.
“The charges against Twyne are representative of the difficulties of navigating New Jersey’s gun laws, which are among the strictest in the nation. They may also reveal issues in the police’s understanding of the state’s voluminous, complex gun restrictions. The case also shows how disruptive gun-related charges can be, even when the accused has a clean record and is not alleged to have done anything violent,” he reported.