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A federal magistrate judge ordered Onijee Burgess, 26, detained following a hearing in U.S. District Court in Newark on Tuesday, Oct. 17.Burgess, Antonio Rivera and other unidentified co-conspirators went on a robbery spree from November 2022 through April 2023, holding up five different pharmacies -- including two of them twice, authorities said.
Rivera demanded Percocet, morphine and oxycodone at gunpoint in an unidentified Paterson drug store this past Feb. 8, U.S. Attorney for New Jersey Philip R. Sellinger said.
An employee complied after Rivera fired a shot, Sellinger said.
Another handed over cash from a register after Rivera squeezed off a second round, the U.S. attorney said.
Things went down differently on April 5 (continued below...).
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SEE: Armed Robber Fires Shot In Passaic Pharmacy Holdup, Employees Still Don't Comply: Feds
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Rivera demanded money from the cash register while pointing a handgun at an employee's head at the Passaic Community Pharmacy on Passaic Street, authorities said.
The employee refused, Sellinger said.
Rivera then pointed the gun at another employee, demanded pills and fired a shot -- which also had no effect, he said.
He then bolted through a rear door.
No one was injured in either incident, responders said.
Sellinger didn't go into details about the other holdups for which Rivera wasn't charged but which he said Burgess was in on the planning and execution.Rivera remained held along with Burgess, who's charged with conspiracy to commit robbery.
A special FBI task force at Garrett Mountain took charge of the investigation, working with the Passaic County Sheriff's Office, police from Passaic, Paterson, Clifton and Cedar Grove and the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office, the U.S. attorney said.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Sophie Kaiser of his General Crimes Unit in Newark is handling the case for the government.
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