Quote:

A duck with flowers. No wonder they use aliases.

He faces 45 years in prison for armed robbery

Saturday, June 20, 2009
By MICHAELANGELO CONTE
JOURNAL STAFF WRITER

A Jersey City man with an extensive criminal record was sentenced to up to 45 years in prison yesterday for the violent armed robbery of a Marion section deli, officials said.

"It's fair and it's just and it sends a message that gun violence and attacks on unarmed, well-intentioned, law-abiding citizens will not be countenanced," said Hudson County Assistant Prosecutor Leo Hurley of the sentence meted out to Malik Flowers, 41, of Arlington Avenue, by Superior Court Judge Camille Kenny. "The state is satisfied with the judge's decision."

On April 6, Flowers, aka "Nathaniel Sanders," was convicted of armed robbery and possession of a firearm by a felon in the April 2007 robbery of the Logan Avenue Deli, during which a woman was knocked unconscious and a man pistol-whipped.

Kenny sentenced him to 35 years on the robbery conviction and he will have to serve 30 years of the term before being eligible for parole. She sentenced him to a consecutive term of 5 to 10 years on the weapons offense, meaning Flowers will be between 76 and 86 years old when released.

On April 6, the jury found his co-defendant, Aleem Mallard, 29, of Fulton Avenue, not guilty of robbery, but guilty of possession of a firearm by a felon, Hurley said. Mallard, aka "Alimeen Watson," will also receive an extended prison term due to his criminal record. He faces 10 to 20 years in prison for the weapons offense.

On the day of the robbery, a resident saw the two men, who appeared to be casing the deli, and jotted down the license plate number of their car and called police, Hurley said, adding that a short time later the resident walked to the deli and found it had been robbed.

Police traced the plate to Mallard, who along with Flowers, led cops on a wild car chase that ended at Fisk and West Side avenues, where the car crashed, reports said. Both men have been in jail since their arrest.

Mallard is scheduled to be sentenced by Kenny on July 17.

Grab pair in armed robbery

Thursday, April 19, 2007

Armed robbers knocked a woman out while robbing a deli in Jersey City's Marion section Tuesday and an observant witness helped cops track down the men, who were arrested after a car crash, officials said yesterday.

At about 10 p.m., police arrested Nathaniel Sanders, 39, of Arlington Avenue, and Aleem Mallard, 27, of Fulton Avenue, charging them with robbery, a weapons offense and receiving stolen property, with Mallard additionally charged with resisting arrest, Police Director Sam Jefferson said.

Cops responded to the Logan Avenue Deli at 8 p.m. and spoke to the victims, who said two men came and one of them brandished a gun, reports said. They slugged a man in the back of the head, cutting him, and punched the woman in the face, reports said.

The robbers took about $1,200 and left, but a witness thought they looked suspicious and got their plate number as they drove off, reports said. Police traced the plate to Mallard's home and an officer who went to take a look spotted the car heading down Garfield Avenue, reports said.

The cop called for backup and followed the car, but the driver spotted the tail and crashed into a pole at Fisk and West Side avenues while trying to get away, reports said. Both men ran but were caught by police, who found a gun in the car and also recovered $831 and the deli owner's credit cards.

MICHAELANGELO CONTE