NYPD: Man, 46, caught with assault rifle at home on Staten Island

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — Police allege they found an assault rifle in the Annadale home of a 46-year-old man who stands accused in a separate assault.

Officers responded to the home of Joshua Simpson on the 4800 block of Hylan Boulevard on Sunday and officers recovered the rifle, a Hi-Point Firearms Model 995, in Simpson’s bedroom, the criminal complaint alleges.

Simpson gave police permission to search his home, according to a source with knowledge of the investigation.

The semi-automatic, 9 mm rifle “has the ability to accept a detachable magazine, and has a second handgrip that can be held by a non-trigger hand,” the complaint alleges.

“I bought my gun in Florida,” the criminal complaint quotes Simpson as saying to police. “I took the magazine out a week ago.”

A search of the Domain Awareness System, an NYPD database, led authorities to determine that “the defendant had no license to possess an assault weapon and is not a dealer in firearms in New York City,” according to the complaint.

In an unrelated incident, Simpson allegedly punched and scratched a woman previously known to him, according to the complaint and police. The victim suffered redness, swelling, and pain to the face and chest.

Simpson has been charged with criminal possession of a weapon, assault and harassment.

The suspect has pleaded not guilty to all charges. Bail has been set at $10,000/$5,000 cash and he is due back in Criminal Court on Dec. 1, according to public records.

An attorney for the defendant did not immediately respond to a request for comment.