An Atlantic City man who was wounded in a 2017 shootout on the Atlantic City Expressway is back in jail after police allegedly found a loaded machine gun and two loaded handguns inside his home.
Lenardo Caro, 29, who previously lived in Mays Landing, was released from prison in November, after serving a three-year sentence on gun and assault charges in the 2017 shootout, where he was wounded.
He was arrested Friday, as he and two others left a home in the 1500 block of Mediterranean Avenue, Lt. Kevin Fair said.
A three-week investigation by Detective Alberto Valles led the city's Special Investigations Section and SWAT team to the home, where Caro, Robert Caro-Green and Adaliz Feliciano were arrested as they were walking outside.
Officers found three juveniles in the living room sitting on a couch, where police would later find a loaded handgun underneath, according to the report.
A further search led police to a loaded machine gun, another loaded handgun, loaded magazines, ammunition and handgun molding kits, along with almost three pounds of marijuana and packaging used to distribute narcotics, Fair said.
The handguns were determined to be ghost guns, which are firearms that do not have a serial number and are untraceable. They can often be purchased online and assembled at home.
The Division of Child Protection and Permanency was notified of the investigation.
Caro, Caro-Green, 31, and Feliciano, 34, were charged three counts each of unlawful possession of a weapon, possession of a weapon during the commission of a drug offense and endangering the welfare of a child.
They were additionally charged with one count each of possession of a high-capacity magazine, possession of a defaced firearm, possession of controlled dangerous substance, possession with intent to distribute, possession with intent to distribute within 500 feet of a public zone, possession with intent to distribute within 1,000 feet of a school and possession of narcotic paraphernalia.
Caro and Caro-Green were also charged with three counts of possession of a weapon by a certain person due to prior convictions.
All three are in the Atlantic County Justice Facility.
NOTE: The Atlantic County Prosecutor's Office has not yet made a determination whether to overturn a previous order banning the release of Atlantic County Justice Facility mugshots. The above photo is from the state Department of Corrections.
