UPDATE: This story was updated approximately 10 minutes after posting to reflect additional data provided by the Maplewood Police Department, in addition to the information already provided by the Newark Public Safety Department.
MAPLEWOOD, NJ — A 13-year-old Newark resident, whom Newark police had arrested on Friday, Oct. 14, and was ordered to be released to the custody of a relative, was arrested again Oct. 16 by Maplewood police for receiving stolen property. Newark police also charged the suspect for a carjacking he had allegedly committed in Newark on Oct. 14, announced Newark Public Safety Director Anthony Ambrose in a recent press release.
At around 10:30 a.m. on Oct. 16, a BMW was carjacked in Maplewood. According to a press release from the Maplewood Police Department, a black male in his 20s exited a white vehicle on Oakview Avenue in Maplewood and approached a 64-year-old resident who was entering her vehicle. The male grabbed the victim, threw her to the ground and fled in her 2015 BMW X5. The victim was transported to the hospital for evaluation.
Maplewood police located the BMW on 19th Street in Newark, where they reportedly saw two suspects near the BMW holding an item taken from the victim during the carjacking.
Maplewood police arrested the two males, both Newark residents, 22-year-old Justyn Knight and a 13-year-old who was identified as the same 13-year-old that Newark police had arrested two days earlier for receiving stolen property. After processing the duo, both suspects were turned over to Newark police.
The teenager was wanted for an outstanding Newark carjacking warrant and Knight for an outstanding court violation warrant.
Newark police charged the teenager with carjacking, possession of a weapon and possession of a weapon for unlawful purposes in connection with Oct. 14’s Northward carjacking.
On Oct. 14, after his arrest, the courts ordered the teen’s release, although the teenager was being investigated for his involvement in carjackings in Orange, Maplewood and Newark. On Oct. 14, at the time of his arrest, the teenager had three key fobs on his person, according to police, which matched the makes of three vehicle taken during carjackings or attempted carjackings hours before his capture.
On Oct. 14, through a meticulous and intense investigation, detectives developed sufficient evidence to implicate the teen as a suspect in the Northward carjacking and determined that one of the fobs belonged to the vehicle, according to the Newark police statement. Newark police were actively seeking the teen when he was arrested by Maplewood police.
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