Crime & Safety

Police: Teaneck Detectives Foil Craigslist Gun Deal

Guns and a 12-inch knife were seized in the undercover operation, police say.

A 29-year-old Manalapan man was arrested on weapons charges Friday night after he allegedly offered to trade two handguns for a camera being sold on Craigslist.

Police were contacted by a concerned township resident who reported they posted a camera for sale on the classifieds website, Chief Robert A. Wilson said in a statement. A would-be buyer, Charles Benincasa, allegedly proposed exchanging the camera for two guns.

Undercover investigators with Teaneck’s Anti-Crime Squad, led by Detective Sgt. Kenneth Egbert, met Benincasa at the Teaneck Road 7-Eleven where he offered up the weapons and was arrested, police said. A search of the car he arrived in also turned up a 12-inch knife in the driver’s side door.

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Benincasa brought the two handguns from North Carolina to New Jersey, according to police. He faces charges of transporting firearms into the state for unlawful sale, unlawful weapons possession and transferring a weapon without a license.

Bail was set at $15,000 with no 10-percent option.

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