ATLANTIC CITY, NJ – Gun violence is on the rise in Atlantic City and it seems like just about everyone, but the tourists in the casino are armed these days. On Thursday, Atlantic City police reported three separate incidents where suspects were charged for illegal possession of guns.
On December 3, 2020, Atlantic City police officers arrested seven individuals and recovered three handguns and an assortment of drugs in separate incidents.
At 11:47 pm, patrol officers responded to mile marker 55 in the westbound lanes of Route 30 for a report of a one-car motor vehicle crash. Atlantic City Fire Department personnel arrived on scene and located an unoccupied vehicle in the marsh. Firefighters saw a man limping away from the scene walking west on Route 30. Officer Kevin Sketers located the man and he was arrested without incident after being found in possession of a loaded handgun.
At 2:19 pm, Sergeant Charles Stuart and Detective Darrin Lorady observed a man matching the description of an armed robbery suspect in the 900 block of North Carolina Avenue. The robbery was committed earlier in the day at Wawa in Pleasantville, NJ. The man, Vance Golden, was arrested and found to be in possession of a handgun. Two passengers, Carolyn Simms and Shania Valentine, were arrested after heroin was located in the vehicle. Further information related to this incident was released by the Pleasantville Police Department.
At 12:52 pm, Sergeant Christopher Lodico conducted a motor vehicle stop in the 1700 block of Atlantic Avenue. During the course of the stop, three men, Effay Johnson Jr., James Harvey, and Ahmad McKinley, were arrested. Johnson was found in possession of a loaded handgun and 22 Oxycontin pills. Harvey was found in possession of 16 grams of heroin and 27 grams of marijuana. McKinley, the driver, was found in possession of paraphernalia used for the packaging and distribution of narcotics.