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Asbiel Feliz, 23, of Mount Vernon was being held in the Westchester County Jail in Valhalla and Ricky Quesada, 24, in the Manhattan Detention Center following their arrests, Bergen County Prosecutor Mark Musella said Monday.
The pair apparently used the same Nissan during the spree, which Musella said began on Oct. 9 when a victim who posted an “Offer Up” ad selling an xBox and was robbed at gunpoint.
Feliz and Quesada then held up two Route 46 gas stations within an hour of one another – one in Elmwood Park, the other in Ridgefield – on Oct. 29, the prosecutor said.
After one of them asked an attendant for change, the other put a large knife to the employee’s throat, Musella said.
The robbers fled with $1,000, he said.
They used a knife again at the Ridgefield station – only this time they ordered the attendant to open the cash register and punched him several times in the face and head, the prosecutor said.
The robber then grabbed all the cash from the register and took the attendant’s cellphone, as well as lottery tickets, cigarettes and various other items before hitting him again as they fled, Musella said.
Video surveillance and witness accounts from the robberies showed an older model Nissan, the prosecutor said.
The next day, the Nissan pulled into an Exxon station on westbound Route 4 in Fort Lee.
One of the robbers threw hot coffee in the attendant’s face while the other rushed him, jabbing a knife toward his neck, Musella said.
They emptied the register of cash, snatched cigarettes and other items and fled, he said.
Authorities who joined forces to investigate the holdups found the Nissan on 103rd Street in Manhattan last Tuesday and began watching it, Musella said.
Quezada showed up soon after and was taken into custody without incident, he said.
Last Thursday, a strike team of Musella’s detectives and police from Fort Lee and Mount Vernon converged on a Tecumseh Avenue apartment and captured Feliz.
Both he and Quezada were awaiting extradition proceedings.
They’re charged in New Jersey with several counts of armed robbery, aggravated assault, criminal restraint making terroristic threats and weapons offenses.
Detectives from Musella’s Special Investigations Squad teamed up with police from Elmwood Park, Ridgefield, Fort Lee, Clifton and Mount Vernon, as well as the NYPD, to crack the case.
“We are committed to ensuring that Bergen County is safe for everyone, and we will aggressively investigate and prosecute all armed robbery related crimes that occur in our county,” the prosecutor said, while thanking all of the agencies involved.
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