MURRAY HILL — A Florida man stopped by police for drinking in public early Saturday morning was caught carrying a pistol and dozens of bags of cocaine, crack, oxycodone and "morning after" birth control pills, according to NYPD.
Police spotted 51-year-old Mark Nickay drinking a 12-ounce bottle of Corona next to a minivan parked near the intersection of Second Avenue and East 38th Street shortly before 1 a.m. on Oct. 31, authorities said.
As officers pulled up in their patrol car to approach Nickay, they saw him toss a bag under the minivan and reach into his pocket as he started walking away toward Second Avenue, police said.
One of the officers managed to grab Nickay before he got too far and found him holding a single-shot derringer pistol in his hand, similar to the kind John Wilkes Booth used to assassinate Abraham Lincoln.
The bag Nickay ditched under the car contained 21 bags of cocaine, 10 bags of crack, and dozens of pills including oxycodone, amphetamines and "morning after" pills, according to a police report.
Nickay, of Cassleberry, F.L., was charged with weapons and drugs possession. He's being held on $50,000 bail, and is due back in court on Nov. 5, court records show.
A 32-year-old man was also arrested during the incident for trying to interfere with the arrest of Nickay, according to police.
A lawyer for Nickay did not immediately return a request for comment. It was not immediately clear if the other man had been arraigned.
