Newark Man Accused of Violent Home Invasion Robbery

A Newark man was arrested Wednesday on charges of attempted murder, armed robbery and other offenses stemming from a violent home-invasion robbery in Bergen County four months ago.

On Sept. 1 at a two-family home in Bergenfield, two men were shot and critically wounded during the robbery. Authorities had already arrested three men in connection with the robbery while a fourth, Hassan “Smoke” Sly, 24, of Newark, remained at large.

A few days after the robbery, Newark SWAT team members recovered a Tec-9 assault weapon and heroin from Sly’s home but did not find Sly, Bergen County Prosecutor John L. Molinelli said.

On Wednesday, detectives with the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office Major Crimes Unit, Newark SWAT officers and Bergenfield police executed a search warrant at an East Orange apartment where Sly was believed to be staying. He was arrested there without incident.

The apartment was also being used to package and sell drugs, Molinelli said. Police found 850 decks of heroin, several ounces of crack cocaine and marijuana as well as packaging material. Sly has also been charged with several narcotics offenses in Essex County, Molinelli said.