NEW YORK (1010 WINS) -- A Long Island man in possession of over a dozen guns was arrested after he threatened to gun down an Orthodox Jewish day camp over social distancing violations, police said Tuesday.
Officials said Nicola Pelle, 58, called Nassau County police twice on Monday around 5:20 p.m. to file a social distancing complaint that the yeshiva day camp was violating COVID-19 restrictions with "approximately 500 students were wearing no masks."
During the second call, police allege that Pelle said, "If I gotta go out there with a freakin machine gun and shoot all these people, I will."
Police dispatched officers to both the yeshiva and Pelle’s Inwood home, where according to officials, he admitted to officers that he made the call and the threat.
Inside Pelle’s home, officers discovered 14 weapons and a 30-round magazine clip, officials said.
Pelle runs a landscaping business and handles a lot of cash and has a Nassau County Pistol Permit, according to officials.
All weapons were legal except for a Bushmaster .223 rifle which is banned under the New York State Safe Act due to its pistol grip and a detachable clip, officials added.
Pelle, who has no criminal history was arrested at his home.
He is charged with making a terroristic threat, four counts of criminal possession of a weapon and two counts of criminal possession of a firearm, officials said.
His business permit has been revoked, authorities said."Our officers did an outstanding job for questioning the subject, got him to admit he made that complaint, did make the threat to 'shoot the school up,' and then going in and recovering the weapons," Nassau Police Commissioner Patrick Ryder said.