The Essex County Sheriff’s Department recently announced the arrest of a man from Orange, New Jersey who is now facing a multitude of charges related to drugs and weapons.
According to Essex County Sheriff Armando Fontoura, 39-year-old Dana Thompson was arrested after authorities received multiple reports from concerned citizens living near his residence on Day Street in Orange.
The Narcotics Bureau at the Sheriff’s Office subsequently obtained a search warrant for Thompson’s apartment, at which time they discovered a myriad of drugs including heroin, crack cocaine, and marijuana, as well as drug paraphernalia. A loaded .22-caliber Ruger semiautomatic rifle and high-capacity magazine were also seized during the search.
Per police records, Thompson’s criminal record includes 18 prior convictions for drug-related offenses. Now, he is facing a myriad of charges. Among them are: possession of a controlled dangerous substance, possession of a controlled dangerous substance with intent to distribute, possession of a controlled dangerous substance with intent to distribute near or on school property, and possession of drug paraphernalia.
In addition, he is facing charges for multiple weapons offenses, which include: unlawful possession of a weapon, possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose, possession of a weapon while committing a controlled dangerous substance crime (governed under New Jersey’s Drugs and Guns Law), and a “certain persons not to have weapons offense.”
Thompson is currently being held at the Essex County Jail, with his bail set at $250,000.
For more information pertaining to this case, access the following article: Orange man, ‘well known to law enforcement,’ arrested on numerous drug, weapons charges
