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Aaron McMorris, a 29-year-old convicted sex offender with a decade-long rap sheet, was only just released from state prison last September after serving more than 2½ years for a drug-related conviction, records show.
The victim told Teaneck police he’d gone to Sterling Place Sunday night to see a man named Aaron, who he said agreed to buy the Xbox after they met in an Instagram group chat, Police Chief Glenn O’Reilly said Thursday.
When he got there, he told police, McMorris – whom he’d met online – got into his car along with an accomplice.
McMorris then grabbed the victim and threatened to cut his ear off with the machete if he didn’t surrender the Xbox and cash, O’Reilly said.
The second man went through the vehicle as McMorris held the victim at knifepoint, the chief said.
Both then fled on Sterling Place to Prince Street, he said.
The victim refused medical attention for a small cut on his forehead after going to police headquarters to report the robbery, O’Reilly said.
Detectives eventually identified McMorris as their primary suspect, the chief said.
McMorris is known to area police. He has a string of arrests and convictions dating back nearly 10 years.
Five years ago, he was with a group of people behind a New Milford apartment complex when a gun another man was playing with went off, killing one of McMorris’s friends.
McMorris fled with the others there at first, then went back, dialed 011 and tried to help his friend, 23-year-old Alex Bridge, who later died at what is now Holy Name Medical Center in Teaneck.
McMorris received probation for his role in the shooting but was violated soon after when Hackensack police said they caught him selling drugs.
This time, Teaneck detectivesobtained a warrant for his arrest and, together with their Hackensack colleagues, took McMorris into custody Thursday at his home at the corner of Park and Gamewell streets.
They also recovered the stolen Xbox from the residence, O’Reilly said.
McMorris remained held Thursday in the Bergen County Jail, charged with armed robbery and two weapons possession counts.
Meanwhile, detectives were searching for his accomplice, O’Reilly said.
O’Reilly thanked Hackensack police as well as the Bergen County Sheriff’s Bureau of Criminal Investigation, which collected evidence from the vehicle.
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