The victim told police he met with Anthony Ferguson, 35, of Paterson behind the shopping center at Preakness and Valley Roads to satisfy an unspecified debt.
He said Ferguson told him “the amount owed had changed due to late fees,” then began punching him in the face and head, Detective Capt. Laurence Martin said.
Then he took the money and left, Martin said.
Detective Skylar Cauceglia worked the case, eventually obtaining an arrest warrant charging Ferguson with strong-armed robbery, aggravated assault and making threats.
Passaic County sheriff’s officers arrested Ferguson on Friday.
He was booked into the Passaic County Jail -- and released then by a judge on Sunday under New Jersey’s 2017 bail reform law.
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ALSO SEE: Wayne police seized 179 Oxycodone pills, a bag of cocaine and $832 in suspected drug proceeds from a Queens driver who’d been parked at the Wendy’s on Route 46 nearly two hours before it opened.
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