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Man arrested with assault rifle, body armor at Cape May Coast Guard facility, police say

Dustin Peters went to the Coast Guard training center to attend a graduation ceremony, officials say.

Aerial photo of the water tower at Coast Guard Training Center Cape May, N.J., shot Thursday, Jan. 8, 2015.
Aerial photo of the water tower at Coast Guard Training Center Cape May, N.J., shot Thursday, Jan. 8, 2015.Read moreU.S. Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer David Micallef

A North Carolina man has been arrested after a search of his vehicle at the entrance to the Coast Guard boot camp in Cape May uncovered weapons, ammunition, and body armor.

Officials did not say what, if anything, Dustin A. Peters, 25, of Wilmington, N.C., planned to do with the weapons.

Peters’ vehicle was searched Thursday after he showed up for a graduation ceremony. Guards found him in possession of hollow point ammunition and a handgun, the Cape May County Prosecutor’s Office said.

Inside the vehicle, police found an illegal assault rifle, numerous high-capacity magazines for the weapon, body armor, and numerous rounds of ammunition, the office said in a statement.

Peters was charged with unlawful possession of a weapon, possession of a machine gun, possession of an assault weapon, and related offenses. He was being held at the Cape May County Correctional Center awaiting a bail hearing.