POLICE BEAT- Camera's images get 2 suspects off streets
Two Jersey City teens were nabbed early yesterday on robbery charges after a closed-circuit video camera caught them fleeing the scene of a mugging, according to a police report.
Police officers responded at 12:09 a.m. to a report of a robbery in progress at the corner of Vroom Street and Bergen Avenue, reports said.
A 25-year-old man told police he was walking home when two males approached him, reports said. One suspect, 19-year-old Aljamar Bradley, of Garfield Avenue, allegedly walked in front of the victim and blocked his path while Jackie Hemmingway, 18, of Van Horne Street, allegedly grabbed him and pushed him against a wall, reports said.
The pair told the man to stay quiet while Bradley grabbed cash - the victim said $20 or $30 - that he had taken out of his pocket, according to reports. Bradley also grabbed a cell phone out of the man's pants pocket and Hemmingway punched him in the face before fleeing, police said.
While police were on the way to the scene, the dispatcher notified them that a video camera on the corner where the incident took place had captured images of the two suspects fleeing, reports said.
Officers then detained Hemmingway and Bradley at Highland Street and Bergen Avenue and arrested them and charged them with robbery when the victim identified them, police said. The victim's cell phone was recovered but his cash was not, reports said.
JASON DEL REY