Young Ex-Cons Nabbed In Elizabeth Taxi Driver Shooting Charged Federally

City police nabbed Naeem Jackson, 22, of East Orange, and Walter Williams-Lang, 20, of Elizabeth, but the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Newark took the case because of the government’s ability to secure much harsher penalties than under state law.

Both Jackson and Williams-Lang were wearing dark clothing and masks over their faces when they entered the cabbie's minivan shortly after 4:30 a.m., U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger said.

Williams-Lang pointed a gun at the driver and demanded money, the U.S. attorney said.

Jackson then “took the firearm from Williams-Lang and pistol-whipped the taxi driver’s head several times before shooting him in the arm,” he said.

Police found the victim at a gas station at Fairmont and Newark avenues, where he’d pulled in for help, Sellinger said.

The fleeing robbers were caught soon after, he said -- all for $20, the driver told police.

U.S. District Court judges in Newark separately ordered both Jackson and Williams-Lang held without bail following initial appearances.

Each is charged with Hobbs Act violence in a robbery, shooting a firearm during a violent crime, conspiracy and firearms possession by a convicted felon, Sellinger said.

Sellinger credited Elizabeth police and the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives’ Newark Field Division with the investigation leading to the federal charges. Assistant U.S. Attorney Barry O’Connell of his General Crimes Unit in Newark is handling the case for the government.

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