Photo Courtesy of NYPD
Drabman has been charged with stockpiling dozens of guns,including assault rifles and modified rifles.
By Michael V. Cusenza
City Police officials credited “shared intelligence and collaboration between units” with the recovery of more than 70 illegal weapons from a Bayside basement on Sunday.
Ronald Drabman, 60, has been charged with stockpiling dozens of guns including pistols, revolvers, assault rifles and modified rifles, along with approximately 50,000 rounds of ammunition inside his 208th Street home, according to Queens District Attorney Richard Brown.
Drabman was arraigned on Monday on a criminal complaint charging him with one count of first-degree criminal possession of a weapon, 39 counts of second-degree criminal possession of a weapon, one count of first-degree criminal sale of a firearm, one count of fourth-degree criminal possession of stolen property, and 17 counts of third-degree criminal possession of a weapon. He was remanded to City Department of Correction custody.
According to the NYPD, on Saturday, 81st Precinct Field Intelligence Sgt. Forrest Hirsch developed information regarding a large cache of weapons and ammunition. After Hirsch and his team surveilled the location, they obtained a court-authorized search warrant secured by Brown’s office.
On Sunday, according to police reports, members of the department’s elite Emergency Service Unit successfully carried out the warrant at Drabman’s residence.
Brown noted that Drabman does not have a firearms license and is not a gun dealer. He is not licensed to sell or to manufacture firearms or ammunition.
“This stockpile of weapons poses a great risk to the residents of Queens,” the DA added. “It is extremely disturbing to find such an arsenal of firearms in a residential community.”
If convicted, Drabman faces up to 25 years in prison.
