MIDTOWN — A couple was busted for allegedly trying to carry a gun into the Empire State Building, according to police and court records.
At about 12:30 p.m. Tuesday, Patrick Dandrea, 49, was arrested after a security guard at the building's observatory check point allegedly found a loaded .22 caliber pistol stashed inside of his wife's purse, according to court documents.
Asked about the firearm, Dandrea allegedly told police that the gun was his and registered in his name, court documents show.
The man was arrested for criminal possession of a weapon, police said. He was released without bail, the Manhattan District Attorney's Office said.
This is the second time in two weeks that a tourist has been caught trying to bring a gun into the building, the New York Post reported.
On March 13, a 54-year-old man was allegedly caught going through a metal detector with a gun in his backpack, the paper said.
By Jill Colvin and Shayna Jacobs
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
MIDTOWN —A
man was busted trying to bring a gun in the Empire State Building, according to
police and court documents.
At about 12:30 p.m. Tuesday, Patrick
Dandrea, 49, tried to make his way through a medical detector at the tourist
site while packing heart, documents say.
A security
guard at the building's observatory check point found
a loaded .22 caliber pistol stashed inside Dandrea's wife's purse, according to court documents.
Asked
about the firearm, Dandrea told police the gun was his and registered in his
name.
The man was arrested for criminal
possession of a weapon in the second degree, police and documents said.
He was released
without bail, the Manhattan District Attorney's Office said.
This is the second time in two weeks that a tourist has been
caught trying to bring a gun into the building, the Post reported.
On March 13, a 54-year-old man was allegedly
caught going through a metal detector with a gun in his backpack, the paper
said.