The driver told police he tried retrieving his wallet after the robber snatched it in the parking lot of the La Quinta Inn & Suites on eastbound Route 3 while requesting a ride to Newark around 9:30 p.m. Sunday, Detective Lt. Robert Bracken said.
The driver instead got pushed to the ground, where he hit his head, and the robber fled, Bracken said.
Nutley police who’d heard the alert spotted the 17-year-old suspect from Newark walking through town, the lieutenant said.
He was brought to Clifton police headquarters, where he was issued a delinquency complaint for robbery and sent to the Essex County Juvenile Detention Center in Newark.
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