Man with guns at Headquarters Plaza legally owned them

MORRISTOWN – The man who was arrested inside Headquarters Plaza last week wearing a bullet-proof vest and carrying two handguns, a fake badge and handcuffs legally owned the Glock guns, his attorney said Thursday.

The family of defendant Andrew Pfitzenmayer, 26, of Peapack-Gladstone, has retained Montville attorney Frank Pisano to represent the accused on charges of unlawful possession of weapons (two 9mm Glock handguns), and two counts of possession of prohibited devices -- two magazines containing 20 rounds of hollow-nose bullets.

Pisano, who specializes in weapons offenses and the U.S. Constitution’s Second Amendment on the right to keep and bear arms, said his client lawfully owned the two Glocks and sold a third handgun in the past back to a dealer. Authorities, however, said that Pfitzenmayer did not have a permit to carry concealed weapons and is not permitted as a civilian to possess hollow-nose bullets.

Pisano said he was retained last weekend by Pfitzenmayer’s mother and will appear with his client in Superior Court, Morristown, on Aug. 25. Pisano declined to comment on the case, including whether Pfitzenmayer has voluntarily undergone a psychological evaluation.

On Wednesday, Morristown Mayor Timothy Dougherty held a press conference at which he expressed dismay that Judge Stephen Taylor, presiding judge of the criminal division in Morris County, declined on July 31 to order that Pfitzenmayer undergo a psychiatric evaluation as a condition of being allowed to post $100,000 bail to be released from the Morris County jail.

On July 29, an unidentified person inside Headquarters Plaza on Speedwell Avenue alerted authorities about a suspicious person on the premises around 10 a.m. The complex contains a multiplex movie theater, health spa, day care center, law offices, and other businesses.

Police encountered Pfitzenmayer, who made no threats but was wearing a bullet-proof vest and carrying a backpack that contained the guns, handcuffs, an expandable baton, ammunition magazines, and a phony badge. He was lodged in the county jail on weapons offenses.

At a bail review Friday attended by the Daily Record, county Assistant Prosecutor Matthew Troiano said the state was concerned about Pfitzenmayer’s mental health and asked the judge to order a psychiatric evaluation as a condition of release on bail.

Troiano said that Pfitzenmayer gave “inconsistent” statements about his purpose in being at Headquarters Plaza and claimed, falsely, to be there for a job.

Pfitzenmayer was calm and clear-speaking during the review and told the judge his parents were in the process of posting bail and retaining an attorney. Taylor, the judge, opted not to order a psychiatric evaluation, noting that Pfitzenmayer was soon to be represented by counsel.

The defendant wound up spending the weekend in the jail until $100,000 -- the maximum called for under the charges he currently faces -- was posted Monday.

Pisano said that he and Assistant Prosecutor Joseph Napurano appeared again briefly before the judge on Monday to show that bail conditions were satisfied, including surrender of Pfitzenmayer’s passport and proof he owns no additional weapons. Pfitzenmayer currently also is barred from returning to Headquarters Plaza, which is under an extra police watch.

Sheriff’s officers in the Morris County courthouse also have been given copies of Pfitzenmayer’s photograph.

Dougherty, the mayor, has proposed legislation that would require judges to order psychiatric screenings for people charged with carrying concealed weapons in public places. Dougherty said he already has been in touch with Union County Assemblyman Jamal Holly, D-Union, and will be reaching out to other legislators and mayors in the county for support.

“The issues in this case were severe enough that a psychiatric evaluation was warranted,” Dougherty said. “I think it’s a no-brainer and I don’t think it’s stepping on anyone’s constitutional rights.”

The mayor noted that just as he was making his announcement Wednesday, a man armed with pepper spray, a hatchet and pellet gun was attacking people at a movie theater in Nashville, Tenn.

“These attacks at public gatherings are becoming an epidemic,” Dougherty said.

Superior Court judges in Morris County a decade ago routinely ordered psychiatric evaluations on certain defendants as a condition of release on bail. Former county jail Undersheriff Frank Corrente said the evaluations were conducted by a jail psychiatrist, whose job was supposed to be neutral and not for or against an inmate. The evaluations for bail purposes also took away from the psychiatrist’s primary job of tending to inmates serving sentences at the facility, Corrente said.

About 10 years ago, the county jail stopped having its psychiatrist perform court-ordered evaluations and the state, which runs the Superior Court, now pays for court-ordered mental health evaluations, Corrente said.

Pfitzenmayer’s online social media profile 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.

Pfitzenmayer’s mother, Jennifer St. Leger, used to work in an office in the North Tower of Headquarters Plaza. She told the Daily Record last week that her son was on the premises for “job-related purposes.”

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