Trio arrested outside Holland Tunnel with weapon cache may have been on ‘rescue mission’

The three people arrested outside the Holland Tunnel Tuesday morning for allegedly having a cache of weapons in their SUV may have been on a rescue mission of sorts, according to one of the suspect's

News 12 Staff

Jun 22, 2016, 4:07 PM

Updated 2,872 days ago

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Trio arrested outside Holland Tunnel with weapon cache may have been on ‘rescue mission’
The three people arrested outside the Holland Tunnel Tuesday morning for allegedly having a cache of weapons in their SUV may have been on a rescue mission of sorts, according to one of the suspect's Facebook page.
The people arrested have been identified as 50-year-old John Cramsey, of Zionsville, Pennsylvania, 53-year-old Dean Smith, also of Zionsville, and 29-year-old Kimberly Arendt, of Leighton, Pennsylvania.
Shortly before they were arrested, a post on Cramsey's Facebook page read, "I'm currently 11 miles outside of Brooklyn New York and going to a hotel to extract a 16 year old girl who went up there to party with a few friends...This young lady from Wilkes Barre is scared and wants to come home."
Cramsey claims the teen woke up next to a person who overdosed on heroin, and even posted a photo of the girl he was trying to find.
The trio never made it to Brooklyn. 
Officers with the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey Police Department stopped their Dodge Durango outside of the tunnel reportedly because it had a cracked windshield.
A search of the SUV uncovered an AR-15, 12-gauge shotgun, five semi-automatic handguns, several knives and body armor. Some of the guns were already loaded. There were also some high-capacity magazines that are not legal in New Jersey.
Officers also reportedly found marijuana, a marijuana pipe and three prescription tablets labeled "legend."
Officials did not confirm the group's motives for heading into New York, but did assure the public that terrorism was not suspected. The incident comes slightly more than a week after the deadly mass shooting at a gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida. 
The three were charged with possession of a weapon, transporting a weapon, possession of high-capacity magazines and transportation of high-capacity magazines.
Cramsey appears to be active in an online group called Enough is Enough, which is focused on the heroin epidemic in some parts of Pennsylvania.
He is also listed on his Facebook page and Linked-In profile as the owner of Higher Grounds Tactical, an indoor shooting range located in Emmaus, Pennsylvania. The SUV the trio was riding in was painted with the company's logo.
A representative from Higher Grounds Tactical would not comment on the arrests.


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