yep. throw away the key. use my tax dollars to keep him locked away.

he's been arrested wayy too many times. i can understand giving a criminal a second chance.. but not a third, fourth or fifth. glad someone finally agreed and threw the book at him

Judge throws the book at repeat offender in Jersey City

by Michaelangelo Conte/The Jersey Journal
Tuesday August 04, 2009, 6:32 PM


Career criminal Joseph Johnson was sentenced to 40 years behind bars for a Jersey City carjacking.

A Jersey City criminal with a horrendous record has been sentenced to 40 years in prison after his conviction for the attempted robbery of a deli that he followed with a carjacking, officials told The Jersey Journal.

"I think the judge's reasoning, and the prosecutor's argument, is that he will not be rehabilitated and has to be isolated from an ordered society," Hudson County Prosecutor Edward DeFazio said of 29-year-old Joseph M. Johnson of Brinkerhoff Street. "Every time he gets out, he becomes reinvolved in the criminal justice system."

Johnson was convicted of attempted robbery and carjacking earlier this year and on Friday state Superior Court Judge Michael L. Raven sentenced him to 40 years with no chance of parole until after serving 34 years, DeFazio said.

When Johnson attempted to rob the deli at Baldwin and Hopkins avenues in April of last year he shoved his way through customers, yelling "This is a robbery!" He forced an employee into a back room while hitting her several times and punched a customer who tried to hold him for police, witnesses told police.

Johnson then carjacked a sport utility vehicle stopped at a traffic light, and headed north on Baldwin, but the driver tried to regain control of the SUV from Johnson and it crashed into a utility police at Franklin and Webster avenues, police said. He was arrested when he tried to leave the wreck, officials said.

When arrested for that crime, he was already charged with unlawful possession of a weapon and possession of a weapon by a felon in a Dec. 23, 2008 incident; aggravated assault and weapons offenses in a Feb. 25, 2008 incident; and two counts of drug possession and two counts of drug possession with intent to distribute near a school in a March 14, 2008 incident, officials said.

After his April conviction he cleared up the other charges against him in a deal in which he pleaded guilty to aggravated assault and drug possession with intent to distribute within 1,000 feet of a school, DeFazio said.

In 1997 Johnson pleaded guilty to drug possession and possession with intent to distribute within 1000 feet of a school, DeFazio said, adding that in 1998 he was sentenced to three years in state prison for those crimes.

In 2001 he was charged with a number of drug offenses and that year he was sentenced to five years probation and ordered to complete an inpatient drug program, the prosecutor said.

He was arrested again in 2002 while still on probation and in 2003 he was sentenced to six years in prison on conviction for drug possession, a firearm charge and three counts of drug possession with intent to distribute near a school, DeFazio said. He was last released from prison in October 2005.

Johnson will be 63 before becoming eligible for parole.

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Give me a break -- I post all the crimes I can on downtown too!

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I agree completely.

seriously, what is the point of these posts?

a junkie high on heroin probably walked into a stolen trash can and fell down.

a maniac decides to beat up a couple people.

a kid waves around a sword, no one hurt.

sounds like a real crime wave to me, hurry up people, move downtown!!! run run!!!

give me a break.

Oh and by me saying I like the heights how it is , is not endorsing what happend to the man beaten or any other crime for that matter.

I was just about to ask the same thing. Last I checked the heights hasnt lost its charecter and by that I mean it hasnt been gentrified (which is a good thing). I dont know where you get this mixed income crap because you've mentioned it before on this board and its really makes you sound pretentious. Get off your high horse.

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What on earth does that mean? What neighborhood isn't "mixed income?"

This is what happens when you have mixed income neighborhoods.

Bloodied, found on Heights street

Tuesday, April 22, 2008

A Union City man who admitted being high on heroin was beaten bloody in Jersey City Monday night, police said.

Cops found the man sitting on an Ogden Avenue sidewalk, near Wood Place, in a pool of blood at 10:23 p.m., police said. The man, who suffered trauma to his forehead and eye area, told cops he did not see his attacker.

The disoriented victim, who was unable to talk to cops at the scene, was treated at the Jersey City Medical Center Monday and was in stable condition, police said.

The man told investigators that he was in the area for "no particular reason" when he was "slugged and saw stars."

CHARLES HACK
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Heights Deli robbery fails, then crash ends car grab

Tuesday, April 22, 2008

A robber left a deli empty-handed and then crashed the SUV he had carjacked while trying to make his getaway, Jersey City police reports said.

Witnesses told police Joseph M. Johnson, 28, of Brinkerhoff Street, entered Jacob's Deli on Baldwin Avenue at 8:30 a.m. Saturday morning and shoved his way through customers, twice yelling "This is a robbery!" He then forced an employee to the back room of the store while hitting her several times.

The robber then punched a customer in the head when the customer tried to hold him for police, witnesses told police.

The suspect then jumped into a sport utility vehicle that had stopped at a nearby traffic light, and headed north on Baldwin Avenue. Johnson was arrested after the driver tried to regain control of the vehicle from Johnson and the SUV crashed into a light pole at Franklin and Webster avenues, police said.

Johnson's bail was set at $250,000.

CHARLES HACK

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Swordplay cut short in Heights

Tuesday, April 22, 2008

El Zorro? More like El Zero, police say.

Cops arrested a 20-year-old wannabe swordsman flashing a weapon in the street to his buddies in Jersey City Friday, according to police reports.

Maico Severino of Lexington Avenue was arrested and charged with weapons possession, police reports said.

Cops saw Severino approach a large group of people gathered outside a grocery store at Franklin Street and Palisade Avenue at about 7:40 p.m., and began showing off what looked like a black walking cane. But then he screwed off the top portion, pulled a sword from the shaft and began slashing at the air, reports said.

Officers stepped in and arrested the man before anyone got hurt, reports said.

CHARLES HACK