A taillight stop, a taped-over plate, and two illegal guns off the street

Wildwood police have had a genuinely busy summer, and by every account, a good one. I've written before about the department shutting down unsanctioned boardwalk parties, three separate times before Labor Day even arrived. This latest one isn't about crowd control. It's a lot more serious than that.

According to a statement from the Wildwood Police Department, patrol officers on Saturday, September 5, spotted a maroon Chrysler traveling eastbound on Rio Grande Avenue committing several motor vehicle violations. Officers also noticed part of the car's Pennsylvania registration plate had been covered in black tape, a tactic police say is commonly used to dodge detection. They pulled the vehicle over near Andrews and Ocean Avenues.

What officers found inside

The driver was identified as Donald R. Jones, 18, of Downingtown, Pennsylvania. Also in the car were Maurice L. Bullock Jr., 21, of Exton, Pennsylvania, and a 17-year-old juvenile, also from Pennsylvania. During the stop, officers spotted a black handgun inside a cross-body bag Bullock had removed from the vehicle. Once everyone was secured and the weapon made safe, it turned out to be a loaded .45-caliber Glock Model 21, fitted with what's known as a "switch," a device that converts a semiautomatic handgun into a fully automatic weapon. Officers also recovered an extended 30-round magazine and hollow-point ammunition in the same bag.

SEE ALSO: Wildwood police stop another unsanctioned beach party

A follow-up protective sweep of the vehicle turned up a second firearm, a loaded Taurus 9mm, in a separate bag in the front passenger area. That handgun was fitted with a large-capacity magazine loaded with full-metal-jacket and hollow-point rounds, and a records check confirmed it had been reported stolen.

The charges, and what the chief had to say

All three occupants were taken into custody. Jones, Bullock, and the juvenile face charges including unlawful possession of a handgun, possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose, possession of a machine gun, possession of a large-capacity ammunition magazine, possession of hollow-point ammunition, receiving stolen property, and possession of a firearm by a minor, along with multiple motor vehicle summonses. Wildwood Police Chief Joseph Murphy didn't mince words about what officers found: "This firearm had been modified in such a way to allow for fully automatic functioning that, combined with the extended magazine capacity, led us to only one conclusion: that the weapon was intended to cause harm to individuals." Jones and Bullock were lodged at the Cape May County Correctional Facility pending court proceedings. The juvenile was processed under New Jersey's juvenile justice procedures and released to an adult family member. All three are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.

Add it to a genuinely strong summer for this department

This is the same police department that spent the summer shutting down unpermitted pop-up parties before they could spiral into the kind of crowd chaos that's plagued other Shore towns. Now add a legitimate machine-gun-conversion device and a stolen handgun taken off a Wildwood street before anyone got hurt. Wildwood's officers earned a real pat on the back this year, and this arrest is exactly the kind of proactive work that doesn't always make headlines until it does.