BYRAM TOWNSHIP, NJ (Sussex County) – Byram Township police say a man found passed out in a car led officers to drugs and a handgun.
On Dec. 17, officers responded to a report of a suspicious vehicle on Cranberry Ledge Road. When the officers arrived, they found Thomas A. Buhlinger Jr. in the driver’s seat of a running vehicle, police said.
Buhlinger Jr. appeared to be unconscious and the vehicle was locked. He eventually responded to officers and while they were speaking to him in an attempt to have him open the vehicle door, they observed a handgun in the center console cupholder, police said.
Buhlinger Jr. exited the vehicle, was searched and handcuffed. Once it was determined that he was not in possession of any other weapons, he then performed several field sobriety tests, which he failed, police said.
Buhlinger Jr. was then arrested and a subsequent search of his vehicle produced a quantity of psilocybin mushrooms and an open alcoholic beverage container. He was then transported to the police station where he consented to and failed two breath tests, police said.
Buhlinger Jr. was charged with second-degree possession of a handgun without a permit, improper transportation of a handgun in a motor vehicle, driving while intoxicated, possession of Psilocybin Mushrooms, possession of a controlled dangerous substance in a motor vehicle, open alcoholic beverage container in a motor vehicle, reckless driving, and careless driving. He was then remanded to the Morris County Correctional Facility pending a court appearance, police said.
