Haddon Township man arrested on firearms charges

Gregory Gawrysiak built a solar panel that he fixed atop a toolbox on his pickup truck and used to power his laptop. He wanted to be self-sufficient, neighbors said he told them.

He used a wood-burning stove to heat his house. And he once gave a neighbor typed instructions about what to do if pulled over by police.

Gawrysiak, 46, an apprentice lineman for Amtrak, is harmless and misunderstood by authorities, said two brothers who are his next-door neighbors on Emerald Avenue in Haddon Township.

But officials said Gawrysiak belongs to the Sovereign Citizen Movement, a federally monitored antigovernment extremist group, and on Thursday, he was arrested at home and charged with illegally possessing multiple firearms.

"He was eccentric," neighbor Blair Slavin, 32, said. "He tried to educate people about the law so that they knew how to protect themselves, so they knew how to ask questions.

"He just thought the government had a power over people because of [their] lack of knowledge."

Charges against Gawrysiak include possessing an assault firearm and possessing a defaced firearm, according to the Camden County Prosecutor's Office, Haddon Township police, and the Pennsylvania Attorney General's Gun Task Force.

In 2012, Gawrysiak bought two pistols, a rifle, and a shotgun in Pennsylvania after fraudulently obtaining a driver's license in that state using a relative's address, authorities said.

One of the guns he bought in Pennsylvania, a pistol, was recovered Thursday at his home; three other weapons were found at a Mantua home after relatives tipped authorities off, officials said.

Gawrysiak's right to buy guns in New Jersey was revoked after an altercation with police in 2010.

In that year, authorities confiscated an SKS assault rifle - which is illegal to own in New Jersey - from Gawrysiak after he allegedly threatened to kill law enforcement officials.

It was unclear where the weapon was bought. Authorities said additional charges were pending in Pennsylvania.

Jason Laughlin, a spokesman for the Prosecutor's Office, said police did not realize at the time that the SKS rifle was illegal to possess and thus no charges were filed.

Haddon Township Police Chief Mark Cavallo could not be reached for details about the 2010 incident. No one responded to the door of Gawrysiak's house.

Slavin, the neighbor, said the confrontation was not threatening.

"He just stood his ground," Slavin recalled, saying Gawrysiak thought the officers were trespassing on his property.

"He yelled at the cops because he said they didn't have a right to be on his property," Slavin said. "All he said is, 'I have a right to defend myself.' "

But Gawrysiak then forfeited his firearms identification card and his right to buy guns in New Jersey, authorities said.

Shortly after that encounter, township police and the Prosecutor's Office's homeland security/counterterrorism officer learned that Gawrysiak belonged to the Sovereign Citizen Movement. Authorities said the group "argues federal and state governments lack legitimate authority."

Laughlin said authorities were still investigating whether other people were involved with Gawrysiak.

"There are a couple of people that live in this area that subscribe to this philosophy. There isn't necessarily a geographic nexus to it," Laughlin said.

Brett Slavin, 25, who works with his brother at a carpet-cleaning, hardwood floor, and fire-restoration company, said neighbors had no problem with Gawrysiak.

Gawrysiak and his wife have two children. His son recently graduated from Haddon Township High School, which his daughter still attends, Brett Slavin said.

"He was normal," he said. "He was never threatening or scary. I know that's how they're going to make him seem."

Gawrysiak was being held in the Camden County Jail with bail set at $500,000.

The Sovereign Citizen Movement has drawn the scrutiny of civil rights groups such as the Anti-Defamation League, which notes that some of its members have committed violent acts, including the May 2010 killing of two West Memphis, Ark., police officers. But it says much of its activity involves "paper terrorism," in which members use legal filings to harass public officials.