Holland Tunnel: Vigilantes arrested for weapons arsenal were 'on way to rescue teen from heroin dealers'

The leader of the group has reportedly been on an anti-heroin crusade since the overdose death of his daughter

Cramsey, Arendt, and Smith moments before pulled over by Port Authority officers John Cramsey/Facebook

Three Pennsylvania residents arrested by Port Authority police while entering New York City with an apparent arsenal claim they were on a mission to “rescue” a 16-year-old girl from heroin dealers.

“I'm currently 11 miles outside of Brooklyn New York and going to a hotel to extract a 16 year old girl who went up there to Party with a few friends,” John Cramsey, 50, said in a Facebook post on the “Enough is Enough” anti-heroin group’s page Tuesday morning.

The group made claims that the 16-year-old was being help against her will - which the NYPD later determined to be false. Once law enforcement was able to track the girl down, they said she denied needing saved. She was still taken into police custody.

Mr Cramsey was pulled over with two friends, Dean Smith, 52, and Kimberly Arendt, 29, approaching the Holland Tunnel in New Jersey. Ms Arendt is reportedly the teenager’s counselor, and said she received a call for help on Monday.

(John Cramsey/Facebook)

While the three were en route to New York, a Port Authority officer reportedly noticed a crack in the windshield of their brightly coloured sport utility vehicle. During the stop, the officer saw a loaded magazine.

In the proceeding search of the vehicle, police found an AR-15 semi-automatic rifle, a shotgun, five handguns, tactical vests, helmets, and high-capacity magazines, CBS News reports.

The trio is being held on $75,000 (£51,000) bail.

Mr Cramsey owns the Higher Ground Tactical gun range in Emmaus, Pennsylvania, and has been on an anti-heroin crusade since the overdose death of his 20-year-old daughter Alexandria in February.

“Ever since his daughter died, I think it was one of those things where he wishes he could have done something to save her,” said Michael Nickisher, a friend of Mr Cramsey’s, told CBS, “and now that she's gone, he feels this guilt in his heart that he needs to help other people.”

The Tuesday morning arrest comes years after New York passed strict gun laws in 2012, in direct response to the mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary in Newtown, Connecticut, that killed 20 schoolchildren.

“The tragedies in Orlando, Newtown, Aurora and communities across the country are clear signs that we need to get our national gun violence epidemic under control," said Attorney General Eric T Schneiderman.

“New York’s assault weapons ban keeps New Yorkers safer, and makes the job of law enforcement easier. There is no place for weapons of war on the streets of America.”