On Sunday June 7, 2020, police reported that a Mount Vernon man had been arrested for criminal possession of an AR-15 semi-automatic rifle and criminal possession of a loaded firearm on Tuesday, June 2, at 11 p.m. in front of Behan’s Public House at 4299 Katonah Avenue in the Woodlawn Heights section of The Bronx. The location, in the 47th precinct, is a few blocks away from Van Cortlandt Park.

 

The NYPD named the man as Nicholas Marc Bingman, 31, of 218 North High Street, Mount Vernon, NY, and in their statement, they said that Bingman’s motive for possession of the weapon was “unknown”.

 

The arrest occurred within 48 hours of a number of Black Lives Matter peaceful protests which had taken place both in the Bronx, and across the City, and one day after riots and looting were witnessed on the Fordham Road section of the Bronx. On June 17, a representative from the Bronx District Attorney’s office wrote in an email to Norwood News that at Bingman’s arraignment, the Assistant District Attorney said Bingman had a “disturbing text on his phone”. No further specifics were provided.

 

The criminal complaint, a copy of which has been received by Norwood News, read that on or about June 2, 2020 at approximately 9:35 p.m. in the vicinity of East 242nd Street and Van Cortlandt Park East, a witness observed the defendant, Bingman, enter Van Cortlandt park with a heavy, dark-colored backpack on his back while holding a baseball bat in his hand, and later left the said park without the backpack.

 

The witness observed the backpack in the weeds and bushes near the entrance to the park and said that it had the defendant’s name written on it in ink, as well as an attached baggage claim slip displaying the defendant’s name. Inside the backpack, the witness observed an AR-15 semi-automatic rifle, 2 magazines with a capacity of ten or more cartridges, and forty-eight (48) live cartridges of .45 caliber ammunition.

 

A database that tracks all persons in New York City with licenses or permits to possess firearms, rifles, and their ammunition was checked, and it was found that the defendant did not have a license to possess the AR-15 and its ammunition.

Another resident said, “They’re out here to cause trouble. Go all the way up here, and you’ll see where he stored the machine gun, all the way to the end. There’s a bus circle and you look to the left, you’ll see a little garden with a sign – that’s where they found it.”

A June 4 Officer Safety Bulletin was issued throughout the Yonkers Police Department about Bingman, and was circulated on social media. It included a photo of the 6-foot, 220-pound White male, as well as an alternative address for Bingman at 43, Hildreth Place, Apartment B, Yonkers, NY 10704. The alert read, “The above male was arrested by NYPD (47th pct.) on 6/2/20 at 4299 Katonah Avenue, Bronx, NY.”

 

It continued, “Bingman was found to be concealing a loaded 45. semi-automatic rifle and ammunition in a backpack which he discarded upon police contact. Officers should use extreme caution when interacting with Bingman, and responding to calls for service to his Yonkers home.”

 

On Monday, June 15, 2020, Bingman’s legal aid attorney, Dorothy Kelly McDonald, said in relation to the incident, “All that is in the public record. He entered a not guilty plea,” before declining to comment further.

 

Repeated attempts to reach Bingman at his Yonkers home were unsuccessful. A call to Bingman’s family home in Mount Vernon was not immediately returned.

 

Bingman is due to appear in court on July 6, 2020.

 

A person arrested and accused of a crime is innocent unless and until convicted in a court of law.

 

One June 5, Norwood News followed up with the Bronx District Attorney’s office and asked for the latest status on the case.

 

We were informed that the case is sealed. We asked under what circumstances the case was sealed, and will update this story upon receipt of a response.