Cops find cache of firearms, ammo in Seaford home after fire

A Seaford man was found with a cache of 67 guns and more than 150 high capacity magazines inside his home after a van burst into flames in his driveway Saturday night, authorities said.

Charles Musarra, 62, who owns the property, was arrested at the scene. He was later charged with first-degree criminal possession of 10 or more firearms, third-degree criminal possession of silencers, third-degree possession of ammunition, and third-degree criminal possession of a weapon after a criminal conviction, according to a felony complaint. 

He pleaded not guilty Monday in First District Court in Hempstead where a judge set bail at $75,000 bail or $150,000 bond. He was represented by Nassau County Legal Aid but an attorney could not be reached for comment. Family members could also not be reached for comment.

The arsenal was found after Wantagh firefighters responded to a 911 call about 7:30 p.m. Saturday at the one-story home on Cedar Street, where a white Chevy work van was fully engulfed in flames, police said. 

The flames jumped to the home and in the course of extinguishing the blaze, firefighters and police searched the house for residents. No one was injured in the fire. Wantagh Fire Department spokesman Kevin Regan said the cause of the fire is under investigation.

Inside the home, Musarra gave authorities permission to search the residence, where they discovered 67 guns, including 57 assault weapons capable of carrying detachable magazines, according to court records. 

Of the firearms seized, 31 were considered “ghost guns” and untraceable without serial numbers, court records showed.

Police also seized 157 high-capacity magazines, thousands of rounds of ammunition, two silencers, 17 rifle lower receivers, one metal knuckle knife, two daggers, one switchblade and various gun pieces, according to court records.

“It is unfathomable the amount of weapons that was in this home in a residential neighborhood and the damage it could have done,” Nassau County District Attorney Anne Donnelly said at a news conference Monday. “Ghost guns are a trend that truly scare everyone in law enforcement … this is becoming an epidemic and something I am working extremely hard at stopping.”

In 2022, Nassau County authorities seized 48 ghost guns, eclipsing the number of ghost guns seized in the prior decade, Donnelly said.

With Steve Langford