Ahmed N. Alaidy
NORTH ARLINGTON –
An out-of-state man was taken into custody soon after he allegedly held up and robbed two young borough residents in the early hours of Sunday, March 9, police said.
North Arlington Police Chief Louis Ghione credited Kearny PD’s quick response to an alarm broadcast after the incident as leading to the apprehension of the suspect.
According to NAPD Capt. James Hearn, headquarters received a 9-1-1 emergency call at 3:41 a.m. that two 20-year-old North Arlington males had been robbed at gunpoint on the street on Harding Ave. near Morgan Place.
The victims told police that the suspect pointed what appeared to be a silver revolver at them and demanded cash. The robber got away with $15 from one victim and $26 from the other, they told police. The victims weren’t harmed, police said.
North Arlington PD then put out a radio broadcast of the robbery, along with a description of the suspect, and, soon after, Kearny PD had located a man matching the description on the Belleville Turnpike a couple of blocks from the bridge, seemingly trying to hide.
Picking up the story, KPD Police Chief John Dowie said that Police Officer Derek Hemphill was on patrol along the Pike observed the suspect acting suspiciously and asked him what he was doing there. The suspect replied that he was looking for a particular store and, when asked his identify, gave Hemphill a fake name, leading the officers to charge the man with hindering apprehension, Dowie said.
A search of the suspect yielded the proceeds of the robbery, Hearn said.
Police called in the Bergen County Sheriff BCI’s canine unit for an assist and, at around the same time, according to Dowie, KPD Officer Glen Reed found a weapon, believed to have been used in the robbery, which, Hearn said, turned out to be a starter’s pistol – in the bushes near a medical office at 12 Belleville Turnpike.
The suspect, Ahmed N. Alaidy, 21, of Brooklyn, N.Y., was charged by NAPD with two counts of robbery, unlawful possession of a weapon, possession of a weapon for unlawful purpose and terroristic threats.
Ghione said that Alaidy was ordered held at Bergen County Jail, Hackensack, on bail of $100,000, with no 10% cash option, pending court action.
– Ron Leir
