Wallkill felon arrested after troopers find weapons cache in home

A routine domestic-dispute call in the hamlet of Wallkill escalated into a felony weapons case after New York State Police say troopers found a cache of firearms in the home of 74-year-old Fred D. Earl, a convicted felon barred from legally owning guns in New York.

Troopers from the Highland barracks were called at about 5:12 p.m. on May 7 after a dispute involving Earl and a 29-year-old woman. State police issued a be-on-the-lookout alert for Earl’s 2024 Ford F-150, then located and stopped the truck at Bon Ventura Avenue and Second Street in the Town of Shawangunk.

The investigation widened when the woman asked troopers to go to Earl’s home so she could retrieve her belongings. Once inside, investigators say they saw an unsecured rifle in plain view. That sight prompted a search warrant, and troopers say they recovered a Remington 597 .22 caliber semi-automatic rifle, a Mossberg 20-gauge shotgun, a Henry Repeating Arms .45-70 caliber rifle, a River Johnson’s Arms .22 Supershot, a DPMS Panther Arms .223/5.56 A-15 assault weapon, three 30-round magazines and a black slapjack.

State police charged Earl with 14 counts, including seven felonies. The charges include multiple counts of criminal possession of a weapon in the third degree, criminal possession of an assault weapon in the third degree, criminal possession of firearm, criminal possession of firearm involving an unregistered assault weapon, several counts tied to ammunition feeding devices, and failure to safely store firearms in the first degree.

Under New York Penal Law, criminal possession of a weapon in the third degree can apply when a person has a prior conviction, possesses three or more firearms, possesses an assault weapon, or has a large capacity ammunition feeding device. Failure to safely store rifles, shotguns and firearms in the first degree is a class A misdemeanor.

Earl was arraigned at the Ulster County Jail Central Arraignment Part and released on his own recognizance. He is due back in Shawangunk Town Court on May 18, 2026, at 6:00 p.m.

The case falls under Troop F, whose patrol and investigative area includes Orange, Ulster, Rockland, Sullivan and Greene counties. Major Christopher M. Kyle, appointed commander effective March 26, 2026, leads that troop, which handled the Wallkill arrest as a domestic call turned into a broader public-safety seizure.