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Shaheem A. Clark, 19, of Elmwood Park, has been identified as the gunman, while Jaquil M. Brown, 29, of Paterson, was the getaway driver in the Sunday, July 21 incident that happened around 11:25 p.m., Bergen County Prosecutor Mark Musella said.
According to Musella, a group of friends had left a business on Route 17 in Lodi and got into a vehicle when a man on foot, later identified as Clark, opened their door, reached across the front passenger compartment and pointed a firearm at the head of one of the occupants, Musella said.
"The armed suspect demanded an expensive wristwatch from one of the occupants and struck the victim in the head with the firearm," the prosecutor said. "The armed suspect forcibly removed the watch from the victim’s wrist, returned to the waiting getaway car driven by a second suspect who parked alongside the victims, and together they fled the scene."
The victims followed the suspect vehicle, operated by Brown, from Route 17 onto Route 80 in Paterson, where Clark leaned out of his car window and fired two gunshots at the victims who were behind them in traffic, police said.
One of the gunshots struck the front windshield, causing glass to injure the driver. The victims pulled over on Route 80 west in Paterson called dialed 9-1-1 while the suspects continued to flee.
Detectives identified the vehicle used by the suspects and subsequently found it on Wednesday, July 24, in Paterson. Detectives developed information that linked Brown to the vehicle in question and identified him as the driver. They also determined that Clark was the second suspect in the armed robbery and shooting, and he was seated in the passenger seat of the car that night.
Brown was found in Paterson on Thursday, July 25 and charged with robbery, conspiracy to commit robbery,receiving stolen property, and various weapons offenses. He was remanded to the Bergen County Jail and appeared in Bergen County Superior Court on Wednesday, Aug. 7, 2024, where he was detained pending further court action.
Detectives learned that Clark was being held in an unrelated incident at the Hudson County Jail. He was charged with first-degree attempted murder, armed robbery, and issued weapons offenses.
He remains in the custody of the Hudson County Jail pending resolution of an incomplete and unrelated criminal case that is still underway.
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