Turns out a man who appeared to police to be suspicious really was — and he had a gun, hollow-point bullets and drugs in his car to prove it, Det. Capt. Vincent Auteri, of the Lyndhurst Police Department, said.
On Monday, May 12, 2025, at approximately midnight, Officer Michael Clifford was conducting proactive patrols of commercial properties in the Meadowlands area when he observed a suspicious vehicle parked in the driveway of a closed commercial warehouse on Valley Brook Avenue.
Officer Clifford approached the vehicle and made contact with the sole occupant, identified as Larnard Smith, 39, of Lewistown, Pennsylvania. Officer Clifford was joined by Officers Nicolette Villani and Jorge Fernandez. During the interaction, officers observed a handgun case resting on the vehicle’s floorboard and subsequently confirmed that Smith, who had a prior conviction, was not the owner of the vehicle.
Upon searching the vehicle, Officer Clifford learned the gun case was empty. He continued his search and ultimately recovered a loaded 9mm Glock 45 handgun, multiple magazines and hollow-point ammunition concealed in a drawstring backpack. Additionally, during a search of Smith’s person, Officer Fernandez found him to be in possession of suspected cocaine along with drug paraphernalia.
Smith was taken into custody without incident and transported to the Bergen County Jail, Hackensack. He was charged with unlawful possession of a weapon, certain persons not to possess weapons, possession of prohibited ammunition, possession of a controlled-dangerous substance and possession of drug paraphernalia.
While awaiting the vehicle’s impoundment, a woman from East Orange arrived on foot and identified herself as Smith’s girlfriend. She told police Smith was picking her up from her place of employment which was within walking distance from the vehicle and the vehicle belonged to a friend.
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Kevin A. Canessa Jr. is the editor of and broadcaster at The Observer, an organization he has served since 2006. He is responsible for the editorial content of the newspaper and website, the production of the e-Newspaper, writing several stories per week (including the weekly editorial), conducting live broadcasts on social media channels such as YouTube, Facebook, and X, including a weekly recap of the news — and much more behind the scenes. Between 2006 and 2008, he introduced the newspaper to its first-ever blog — which included podcasts, audio and video. Originally from Jersey City, Kevin lived in Kearny until 2004, lived in Port St. Lucie. Florida, for four years until February 2016 and in March of that year, he moved back to Kearny to return to The Observer full time. Click Here to send Kevin an email.