The man was at the home of a non-resident relative on Ridge Road in Rumson, according to the Press.
A 49-year-old Rumson man, said to be despondent over financial difficulties, was hospitalized after heavily armed police from Rumson, Fair Haven and Little Silver surrounded his Ridge Road home Sunday morning, today’s Star-Ledger reports.
Rumsom Police Chief Richard Tobias says Seth Kronengold faces possible weapons possession charges in connection with an illegal assault rifle and found by police, the Sledger reports. Other firearms were removed from the house.
From the story:
A relative contacted police earlier today because she was concerned Kronengold was upset over back taxes and the repossession of his car, according to police.
Tobias said officers who went to check on Kronengold around 9:48 a.m. found ammunition and a bullet proof helmet inside his home.
“It was just like the bullet proof helmets we wear,” said the chief, referring to police.
The officers backed out of the home and evacuated three families from the area as a precaution, Tobias said.
Police wearing tactical gear returned armed with assault rifles. Kronengold, who was spotted in a second-floor window, surrendered without incident, Tobias said.
Removed from the home were two handguns, a 15 round magazine, and two rifles, including an imitation M1 Carbine, which is illegal assault weapon in New Jersey, according to the chief.
Here’s how the Asbury Park Press reported it:
Fifteen officers from Rumson, Fair Haven and Little Silver police departments responded and evacuated homes in the surrounding area as a precaution, police said.
Tobias said that police could see the man through the window on the second floor of the home at 7 Ridge Road.
“They called him to come outside,” Tobias said.
At the scene, police cars, several unmarked sport-utility vehicles and an emergency medical service vehicle lined both sides of the street of the quiet, upper-middle-class neighborhood.
Police closed both ends of Ridge Road to traffic. An occasional passerby stopped to ask what was happening.
The man, identified by police as Seth Kronengold, 49, nephew of the home’s nonresident owner, Lois K. Rosenthal, peacefully exited the home at 1:55 p.m., police said.
Kronengold was charged with possession of an assault rifle — illegal in New Jersey — and police are checking the legality of two handguns and a shotgun that also were found in the home, Tobias said.
Kronengold was taken to Monmouth Medical Center for an evaluation, Tobias said.
No shots were fired, no one was harmed, and Kronengold did not threaten police during the incident, Tobias said.
Police requested the Rumson Health Department evaluate the home’s condition, Tobias said.
One police officer at the scene described the inside of the split-level house as disheveled and dirty, with bugs crawling the floor in some locations.
