New Jersey

Driver Who Tried to Enter New Jersey's Picatinny Arsenal, Prompting 5-Hour Saga, on Track to Be Deported: Feds

The driver who authorities say tried to enter New Jersey's Picatinny Arsenal Friday and was stopped at the gate after guards found something about the vehicle to be suspicious, prompting a five-hour saga that included evacuations and road closures, is on track to be deported, federal officials say.

Petr Cifka, a 46-year-old citizen of the Czech Republic, was detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers after trying to enter the Army installation in Morris County last week, officials with the agency said Monday.

Cifka "has been entered into deportation proceedings and will remain in ICE custody pending a hearing before a federal immigration judge," ICE said in a statement. The agency referred questions about criminal charges to the Department of Defense, which couldn't immediately be reached about the matter.

It wasn't clear what security personnel considered suspicious about Cifka's truck, but arsenal authorities said they were treating the vehicle "as if it were an explosive threat," and he was taken into custody.

The gate was locked down and employees were instructed to leave their posts shortly before 2 p.m. as robots and explosive detection devices assessed the potential threat.

No explosives were found, but the immediate area, including businesses near the arsenal entrance, was evacuated as a precaution and a good stretch of Route 15 was shut down to assist in the investigation, causing extensive traffic delays. One motorist complained about a three-hour journey to go a few miles.  

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