4 arrested after police tail store robbery suspects
Monday, November 13, 2006

Four Jersey City men were arrested Saturday night after cops followed two men after the robbery of a convenience store, reports said.

According to Police Sgt. Edgar Martinez, Marcus Pettiford, 21, of Garfield Avenue, and Benjamin Wilson, 22, of Union Street, used a 9 mm handgun to do a "stick-up job" at the New Minimarket, 2125 Kennedy Blvd., Jersey City.

Cops arrived at the scene in time to follow the pair from the convenience store to a building on Grant Avenue, Martinez said.

The two men then bolted into an apartment and the police ran after them, Martinez said. Inside the apartment, cops found two more men - Eric Sessoms, 18, of Clinton Avenue, and Najee Ford, 18, of Ocean Avenue, in addition to Wilson and Pettiford.

Police also found in the apartment a stash of guns, drugs and proceeds from the store robbery, Martinez said.

By the end of the search, all four occupants faced a bevy of charges, Martinez said.

Pettiford and Wilson, the pair who had initially robbed the convenience store, were charged with robbery and weapons possession.

Sessoms was charged for the 77 vials of cocaine that were found in the house, while Ford was hauled in for having a stolen weapon, Martinez said.

GREG HANLON