10°
Six of the counts in the indictment returned by a grand jury in Hackensack against 31-year-old Gregory Morehouse are first-degree charges involving a deadly weapon and “the threat of immediate bodily injury.”
Morehouse wore the same dark, hooded sweatshirt with white inner lining in the CVS New Year’s Eve holdup in Hackensack as he did more than two hours later when he robbed a Chase branch in Elmwood Park of $500 after threatening to shoot the teller, multiple law enforcement officials told CLIFFVIEW PILOT.
Morehouse pointed a 12-inch knife at the CVS cashier before grabbing money from the register, city Police Director Michael Mordaga said soon after the holdup.
Gregory Morehouse (MUGSHOT: Courtesy BERGEN COUNTY) SHERIFF
Although he fled on foot, the robber vanished quickly, leading police to suspect a car was waiting — “possibly a cab,” Mordaga said.
He then showed up at the Chase Bank branch on Broadway in Elmwood Park, authorities said.
“He passed a note to [the teller] demanding money and threatened that he had a gun and that he would shoot her if she didn’t give him the money,” Police Chief Michael Foligno told CLIFFVIEW PILOT. “He continually told her not to push the panic alarm.”
A few nights earlier, authorities charge, Morehouse handed clerks at the Burger King and Wendy’s on Route 46 similar notes — but nNeither took him seriously.
“They looked at him as if to say: ‘You’re not really serious, are you?’ ” a law enforcement official said.
Morehouse ran out of each and hopped into the waiting cab before succeeding on the third try: A clerk at the nearby Airport Motel on Huyler Street “got scared and gave him the money,” Capt. Robert Kaiser told CLIFFVIEW PILOT.
Acting on a tip, detectives on Jan. 6 went to Bergen Regional Medical Center, where they found that Morehouse had been admitted for treatment.
Morehouse, who was also wanted on a pair of warrants out of Monmouth County, remained held in the Bergen County Jail today on $250,000 bail.
He’s also charged with holding up a Paterson supermarket on Dec. 6.
MUGSHOT: Courtesy BERGEN COUNTY SHERIFF
Click here to follow Daily Voice Hackensack and receive free news updates.
