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An Atlantic County jury found Michael Hayes, of Absecon, guilty of a total of 15 charges on Tuesday, June 6, according to the Atlantic County Prosecutor's Office.
The jury heard evidence that weeks leading up to the incident, Hayes conspired with an unknown accomplice to rob the victim, the prosecutor said.
On Sept. 15, 2020, Hayes and his accomplice waited outside the victim’s house in Buena Borough with masks on and confronted him at gunpoint as he left to go to work around 6:30 a.m., the prosecutor said.
They duct-taped him and forced him back inside his house and into his bedroom. The jury found that Hayes held the victim at gunpoint in his room, threatening to shoot him in the head. He was robbed of approximately $1,000 cash and a necklace, the prosecutor said.
As this was occurring, the unknown accomplice walked down the hall and pointed a gun at the victim's father and told him and his wife to stay quiet.
The victim was able to break free from the duct tape and attempted to escape down the stairs. Hayes told the accomplice to shoot the man and he fired one shot that grazed the victim’s head, the prosecutor said.
The victim was able to make it safely across the street to his neighbor’s house where 911 was called. Hayes and his accomplice fled.
The case was broken open when Hayes’ fingerprint was found on the discarded duct tape at the crime scene, the prosecutor said.
This case was investigated by the Franklin Township Police Department with assistance from the High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area Task Force, and the Richland County (South Carolina) Sheriff’s Department Forensic Sciences Laboratory.
Sentencing is scheduled for July 18.
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