Nab 3 men in car, tie one to robbery soon after run of quick armed heists

Saturday, July 04, 2009
By MICHAELANGELO CONTE
JOURNAL STAFF WRITER

Jersey City cops spotted a car matching one used in a flurry of gunpoint robberies yesterday morning, and after busting the three men inside on drug charges, one of them was connected to a holdup, officials said.

At 2:12 a.m., officers at Duncan and West Side avenues spotted a black four-door Oldsmobile parked at a gas station and noted that "earlier in the midnight tour there were numerous robberies throughout the city involving a dark-colored vehicle which was described as possibly being a dark-colored Buick or Oldsmobile," reports said.

Two men who fit the description of three earlier robberies - blue jeans and white T-shirts, one heavyset, the other thin with dreadlocks - left the Exxon MiniMart and got into the car, reports said. That's when police approached the car and found a third man in the backseat with 33 vials of suspected crack cocaine.

Jerry Martin, 27, of Arlington Avenue, Julius Smith, 30, of Monticello Avenue, and Derrick McRae, 19, of Fulton Avenue, were detained, reports said. A victim from one of the earlier robberies was brought to the scene and she identified McRae as the holdup man, reports said.

At the police station, Martin admitted the drugs were his and he was charged with drug possession and possession with intent to distribute within 1,000 feet of a school, reports said, adding that the others were also charged with drug offenses.

At 1:01 a.m., a 19-year-old Monticello Avenue woman had been walking near her home when she saw a man with short curly hair and a heavyset man sitting on a porch, reports said. When she walked by, one of them took out a gun and grabbed her purse and cell phone while the other laughed, reports said, adding that they got into a black vehicle and fled.

At 1:16 a.m., a 20-year-old woman was near her Broadman Parkway home when a man got out of a black car, pointed a black handgun at her and said "You know what this is," reports said, adding that she handed over her laptop and cell phone.

At 1:29 a.m., a 26-year-old Lexington Avenue woman was near Mallory Avenue when two men in a four-door green vehicle approached her and a man with dreadlocks got out, pointed a gun at her and said, "I want all your money," reports said. They fled with her cell phone and purse, reports said.

There were several robberies early Thursday morning and at least one appears similar. At 3:30 a.m., police responded to a gas station at Grand Street and Pacific Avenue where a 34-year-old man had been robbed, reports said. He told police a heavyset man and a thin man driving a dark, four-door vehicle pulled up and the passenger got out with a black handgun and robbed him of $200 to $300.

A police spokesman would not provide more details on the robberies, saying it was an ongoing and active investigation.

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String of armed muggings in Jersey City

by The Jersey Journal
Sunday July 05, 2009, 9:50 AM

Cops have been on the lookout for two armed robbers -- one heavyset, the other thin with dreadlocks -- who have been holding up Jersey City residents in the early morning hours, according to a report in The Jersey Journal.

Police investigating three armed robberies on Friday morning made three arrests after spotting a car that may have matched the one used in the attacks but only one of the three was charged with a holdup, the paper said.

All three were held on drug charges, but no weapon was found.

On Friday, at 1:01 a.m., a 19-year-old Monticello Avenue woman was walking near her home when she saw a man with short curly hair and a heavyset man sitting on a porch, reports said. When she walked by, one of them took out a gun and grabbed her purse and cell phone while the other laughed, reports said, adding that they got into a black vehicle and fled.

At 1:16 a.m., a 20-year-old woman was near her Broadman Parkway home when a man got out of a black car, pointed a black handgun at her and said "You know what this is," reports said, adding that she handed over her laptop and cell phone.

At 1:29 a.m., a 26-year-old Lexington Avenue woman was near Mallory Avenue when two men in a four-door green vehicle approached her and a man with dreadlocks got out, pointed a gun at her and said, "I want all your money," reports said. They fled with her cell phone and purse, reports said.

There were also several robberies early Thursday morning and at least one appears similar.

At 3:30 a.m., police responded to a gas station at Grand Street and Pacific Avenue where a 34-year-old man had been robbed, reports said. He told police a heavyset man and a thin man driving a dark, four-door vehicle pulled up and the passenger got out with a black handgun and robbed him of $200 to $300.