Two men were charged with robbing a pair of Atlantic Highlands residents who were allegedly attempting to purchase marijuana from them.
FREEHOLD - Two men were charged with robbing a pair of Atlantic Highlands residents who were attempting to purchase marijuana from them, Acting Monmouth County Prosecutor Christopher J. Gramiccioni announced Friday night.
On Thursday, Najzhir Islam, 19, of Jackson, and Juwan Williams, 18, of Tinton Falls, arrived at the home on Ocean Boulevard in Atlantic Highlands under the pretense of making an illegal marijuana transaction, but with the intention of the armed robbery, the prosecutor's office said.
Islam and Williams were met inside the home by two occupants, who had previously called them for the marijuana. During the transaction, however, one of the defendants brandished a gun while the other defendant used pepper spray to rob the victims of $265, before they fled the scene, authorities said.
The victim reported the robbery to Atlantic Highlands Police and a short time later Sea Bright police located the suspects' vehicle on Ocean Avenue and subsequently stopped it in Rumson, where the two men were taken into custody by Atlantic Highlands police, the prosecutor's office said.
Islam and Williams were charged with one count of first-degree armed robbery and second-degree possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose.
They were both lodged in the Monmouth County Correctional Institution in Freehold Township on $250,000 bail with no 10-percent option, as set by Monmouth County Superior Court Judge Honora O'Brien Kilgallen.
They were also ordered to have no contact with their victims or return to the scene of the crime.
Anyone with any additional information on this incident is asked to call Detective Kevin Condon, of the Monmouth County Prosecutor's Office at 1-800-533-7443, or Detective Sgt. Thomas Stone, of the Atlantic Highlands Police Department, at 732-291-1212.
If convicted of armed robbery, each suspect could be sentenced to up to 20 years in a New Jersey state prison. The possession of weapon for an unlawful purpose charge carries a potential sentence of five to ten years in state prison.
The case was assigned to Monmouth County Assistant Prosecutor Christopher Decker, director of the prosecutor's office's Major Crimes Bureau.
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