Elderly couple robbed in NB hotel room Quick police work leads to two arrests of Jersey City residents
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However, quick work enabled police to apprehend the man and woman responsible for the robbery just two hours later and only a few blocks from the scene.
According to North Bergen Police Lt. Robert Hovan, police were first called to the Comfort Suites, located at 1300 Tonnelle Ave., last Sunday morning around 1:10 a.m.
"They said they were attending a family party in Union City and were staying at the hotel," Hovan said. "When they returned to the hotel, a black male and female followed them back to their room and pushed both of the elderly people into their room, with the elderly man falling on top of his wife. When this happened, the black male actor then [allegedly] pistol whipped the man with a handgun and took the man's wallet. He also removed money from the man's pocket. The female took the other woman's pocketbook and they fled the scene."
However, the armed robbers didn't know about one thing - the hotel's security camera.
"The surveillance camera caught them fleeing the scene in a black Lincoln Continental," Hovan said. It didn't take long for the North Bergen police to apprehend the criminals.
You're on candid camera
At 3:23 a.m., Police Officer Steve Schubert, who was made aware of the robbery earlier, spotted a vehicle on Ninth Street and Grand Avenue that matched the description of the getaway car. Inside the Lincoln Continental were a black male and female. The location was less than four blocks from the hotel where the robbery took place.
"Officer Schubert had seen the video from the hotel's surveillance camera, so he recognized that these two had the same clothing description as the two involved with the robbery," Hovan said.
Hovan said that based on the description of the two people inside the vehicle believed to be the getaway car, Schubert then conducted a search of the vehicle.
"He found a silver revolver, along with cash and the credit cards that belonged to the victim," Hovan said.
Two other police officers, Dave Corbisiero and Marco Rovello, were then summoned to the scene and the two people in the car were apprehended and arrested.
"The gun had two live rounds inside it and four spent rounds," Hovan said. "We sent the gun to the police ballistic lab in Trenton to determine if the gun was used in any other crimes."
One a fugitive
North Bergen police arrested 38-year-old Joe Bennett of Jersey City and 25-year-old Zakiyyah Hawkins, also of Jersey City, and charged them both with armed robbery, aggravated assault, possession of a weapon, unlawful use of a weapon and an assortment of controlled substance devises.
Bail was set in North Bergen Municipal Court at $25,000 for both Bennett and Hawkins. Hawkins is a fugitive from Volusia County, Fla., where she is wanted for child neglect. Hawkins may be extradited to Florida after facing the local charges.
Bennett has a string of prior arrests, mostly involving robbery, theft and drug possession, according to police. Both are currently being held in the Hudson County Jail, awaiting their appearance in Central Judicial Processing in the Hudson County Courthouse. The two might have their CJP hearing via closed circuit conferencing to avoid transportation problems from the jail facility.
"It was absolutely a case of great police work," Hovan said. "We had an officer who responded to the original incident, got the details, and made the aggressive arrest. It's aggressive police work all around. Based on their previous history, they could have continued their [alleged] criminal activity, but we were able to put a quick stop to it."
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