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Man Arrested for Gun at Empire State Building

By DNAinfo Staff on March 31, 2011 5:43pm  | Updated on March 31, 2011 5:42pm

The Empire State Building
The Empire State Building
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DNAinfo/Josh Williams

By Jill Colvin and Shayna Jacobs

DNAinfo Reporter/Producers

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.