NJ man with illegal gun and drugs in fanny pack goes free

PATERSON — An appellate court has sided with a Passaic County man who had a gun and drugs in his fanny pack during a police search.

Javarus Patterson, 21, pleaded guilty last year to second-degree handgun possession and two third-degree drug charges.

He was sentenced to seven years in state prison on June 7, 2023.

But on Monday, Patterson won his appeal that said Paterson police violated his rights when they searched his fanny pack.

Arrested at crime "hotspot"

Patterson was arrested in June 2022. He was one of 10 people Paterson police saw standing at the corner of Madison and Essex Streets.

Detectives knew the area as a "hotspot" for crime, according to court documents. A 15-year-old girl was shot to death there a month earlier. Four men between the ages of 21 and 32 were injured in the same shooting.

One detective recognized Patterson because he had run from police a year earlier in 2021. Court documents said the detective chased the then-17-year-old four blocks and found a gun.

During the 2022 search, police noticed Patterson's fanny pack and felt the front of it during a pat down. The detective said in court that he felt the handle and barrel of a gun.

Police said they found a loaded handgun in the fanny pack. "I strongly conclude that the State has met its burden" in the search, the trial judge said.

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Appeals court overturns unlawful search

However, Monday's appellate decision said there was not enough cause to search Patterson's fanny pack.

"We conclude the fact that defendant was present in a hot spot and had a prior firearms possession record does not provide a sufficiently objective reasonable inference defendant was in possession of a handgun," the court wrote.

The plea deal was thrown out.