Crime & Safety

Three Charged in Cell Phone Robbery at Riverbank Park

Robbers threatened to shoot victims, sheriff says.

Three city youths were arrested Monday by Essex County Sheriff’s officers after the boys allegedly threatened to shoot two other young men if they did not hand over their cell phones, Essex County Sheriff Armando Fontoura said in a statement.

Two youths, aged 16 and 17, flagged down sheriff’s officers at Riverbank Park in the Ironbound around 6:30 pm and said the three—whose names were not released because of their ages—had just accosted them at the park’s tennis courts.

A few minutes later, the two 17-year-olds and a 16-year-old were spotted at the corner of Market and Congress streets and were taken into custody after they were identified by the victims. The boys were found carrying the victims’ cell phones but no one had a gun, Fontoura said.  

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The boys were charged with robbery and conspiracy and were being held at the county’s youth detention facility Tuesday. 

Nationwide there has been a spike in cell phone robberies, in some instances with fatal results. Last week a Jersey City man was shot and killed as he was pursuing someone who had just robbed his brother's phone.

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Cell phone robberies are on the rise in Newark as well. Speaking at a South Ward community meeting earlier this year, Newark Police Director Samuel DeMaio advised residents to be alert when using their cell phones in public.


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