State Police Welfare Check Leads to Weapons Arrest in Rockland County

Members of the New York State Police had what could be called an unusual encounter over the weekend in Rockland County involving an out of state traveler. The encounter would result in the out of state traveler being placed under arrest and now facing weapons charges.

Interstate Welfare Check in Clarkstown

This incident occurred over the weekend as Friday night rolled over into Saturday morning. It was approximately 12:03a.m when New York State Troopers from the SP Tarrytown barracks spotted a black 1996 GMC pickup truck parked on the shoulder of southbound Interstate 87 at Exit 13N in the Town of Clarkstown.

Upon spotting the vehicle, Troopers made the decision to conduct a welfare check of the vehicle's driver. Troopers were able to identify the driver as 34-year old, Montana Madison, of the state of Virginia. While interviewing Madison, Troopers spotted a firearm in plain view on the front passenger seat.

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Troopers then detained Madison and continued their interview and investigation. It was during the time after Madison was detained that he admitted to having a second firearm located in the rear passenger seat area of the vehicle.

The firearm in the passenger seat was loaded and it was identified as a Kel-Tec .22 caliber semiautomatic handgun. The second firearm was also found, also loaded, and identified as Ruger .44 magnum revolver.

Troopers took both of the loaded firearms in as evidence and then took Madison into police custody without incident.

Weapons Charges

After being taken into custody, Madison was transported to SP Tarrytown for processing and charged with two counts of Criminal Possession of a Weapon in the Fourth Degree.

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It was stated in the press release issued by the New York State Police that Madison had stated he was traveling from his home state of Virginia to Maine for a hunting trip. It was also stated that Madison is employed by the Virginia State Department of Corrections and has no prior criminal history.

Madison was later released from custody with a court appearance ticket returnable to the Town of Clarkstown Court on September 20, 2025, at 1:30 p.m.