Man admits carrying guns at Morristown's Headquarters Plaza

A Peapack-Gladstone resident admitted Tuesday to carrying unloaded Glock handguns in a backpack into Headquarters Plaza in Morristown in July, saying  he was there to check available office space before going to a shooting range in Randolph.

Andrew Pfitzenmayer, 27, pleaded guilty before state Superior Court Judge Salem Vincent Ahto in Morristown to one count of unlawful possession of a weapon -- the unloaded Glocks that authorities said he was carrying in a backpack inside Headquarters Plaza on Speedwell Avenue on July 29.

The judge directly asked Pfitzenmayer what he was doing with the guns.  Pfitzenmayer acknowledged that he legally owned the guns but did not have a permit to carry them.

Pfitzenmayer said he was dropped off at Headquarters Plaza so he could look at office space.  He said he intended to go afterward to a shooting range in Randolph.  He was not specifically asked why he also was wearing a bullet-proof vest and had handcuffs, a phony police badge and two magazines of hollow-point bullets in the backpack.

The judge pointed out that Pfitzenmayer needed a permit to carry the weapons.

"I understand that now sir. I wasn't aware of the exact law at the time," said Pfitzenmayer, who was polite and subdued throughout the hearing.

"To me that's basic,  that you can't do it," Ahto replied.

As a condition of his $100,000 bail, which he posted less than a week after his arrest on July 29, Pfitzenmayer agreed to submit to a psychological evaluation. Ahto reviewed the evaluation and, at the request of Assistant Morris County Prosecutor Joseph Napurano, agreed the report would be sealed so that it cannot be read by the press or public.

Napurano has recommended that Pfitzenmayer be sentenced on Dec. 3 to three years in state prison, with one year to be served before parole consideration.

New Jersey law calls for people caught unlawfully carrying handguns to be sentenced to a minimum of five years in prison, with 42 months of parole ineligibility.

But the state Attorney General's Office has issued a directive to prosecutor's offices that the initial plea offer to eligible people -- including those like Pfitzenmayer with no criminal record -- be a sentence of three years, with one year of parole ineligibility.

The waiver from the five-year period has to be approved by Superior Court Assignment Judge Stuart Minkowitz upon an application by Napurano.  The assistant prosecutor said he will be filing a motion for the waiver in the next few days.

Pfitzenmayer answered questions posed by defense lawyer Frank Pisano but Napurano also asked him some questions, including whether it was correct that he was spotted on Headquarters Plaza surveillance cameras walking in a lobby of one of the complex's two towers and near a food area, with guns in the backpack.

Headquarters Plaza houses dozens of law and other business offices, a day care center, health spa and movie theater. Pfitzenmayer was never accused of making a threat to anyone on July 29.

He will remain free on the $100,000 bail until sentencing but cannot go to Headquarters Plaza or have  contact with its tenants.

Police, called to the scene by a concerned person at Headquarters Plaza, said they found Pfitzenmayer wearing a bullet-proof vest, carrying a fake police badge and expandable baton, and carrying two unloaded Glock handguns along with two magazines of hollow-point bullets in a backpack.

At sentencing time, other counts of possessing prohibited devices -- hollow-nose bullets -- will be dismissed.

Authorities had said in July that Pfitzenmayer gave “inconsistent information” and “untruthful information” about his purpose in being at Headquarters Plaza, including that he operated a business at the complex. Authorities have said Pfitzenmayer had been “expelled” from a Somerset County rescue squad, and his volunteer relationship with the Far Hills-Bedminister Fire Department was “tenuous.”

Pfitzenmayer’s social media profile on Facebook says he attended Rutgers University and is president of an event planning business based in Far Hills called St. Leger Concierge that was started in 2012.

Staff Writer Peggy Wright: 973-267-1142; pwright@GannettNJ.com.