A New Jersey man’s shameless posts on Facebook led police to uncover a massive cache of illegal guns, knives, and explosives stashed inside the suspect’s home on a quiet suburban block this week.
Kyle Arena, 35, of Totowa, NJ, is facing multiple firearms and weapons charges stemming from a home raid Tuesday that yielded rifles, handguns, dozens of knives, ninja stars, brass knuckles, 129 fully loaded illegal high-capacity magazines, thousands of rounds of ammunition and even four explosives, Totowa police said.
An anonymous tipster alerted cops to Arena’s concerning social media posts and alleged arsenal of guns and investigators had to look no further than his Facebook page for probable cause.
Arena made a habit of flashing his guns online and “posting questionable content in various Facebook groups,” according to authorities.
In one post, he pointed a gun at people while driving by in his car. In other posts, he shared pics of illegal items such as silencers, police said.
In another photo, Arena can be seen holding up a rifle to his square black-rimmed glasses, pretending to take aim at an unseen target.
The emailed tip included screengrabs of Arena’s Facebook posts to a group called “Meal Team 6.1 Mid-Tier Main Group,” according to authorities. That private group of gun-enthusiasts boasts 14,500 members.
“Meal Team 6.1 Mid-Tier Main Group” has a number of rules posted to their homepage, including “DO NOT USE FB REPORTING OPTIONS” or face removal. The rule encourages members to eschew Facebook content moderators for fear that any intervention into the private group would result in it being shut down entirely.
With the multitude of evidence from his social posts, Totowa police were granted a search and seize warrant called a “Temporary Extreme Risk Protection Order” by a judge to search through the Lincoln Avenue home where Arena lives with his parents.
Investigators found the huge arsenal of weapons hidden inside a crawl space inside the home and bomb-sniffing dogs discovered four explosive devices, police said.
Nearby residents told ABC7 they couldn’t believe one of their neighbors was hoarding the stockpile of deadly weapons.
“I was in shock,” Ciro Abdondanza told the station. “I never would have expected anything of that magnitude would happen in Totowa.”
“I couldn’t believe it,” Carmine Cifalvi added. “That’s just crazy. What’s he starting his own army or something?”
Officers seized all the items and arrested Arena without incident. He is being held by the Passaic County Sheriff’s Office and faces multiple illegal firearms-related charges. He is due in court on Monday.
The suspect’s 66-year-old father, Felix Arena was also taken into custody during the search. He was charged with disorderly conduct, terroristic threats, and resisting arrest.
