Four charged in mall robberies

EDISON — Four suspects have been arrested and charged in connection with three robberies during the past two weeks in the Menlo Park Mall, according to township police.

On Dec. 31 at approximately 6 p.m., two suspects knocked a 21-year-old woman to the ground in the mall's parking lot and took her purse, according to the police report. With the victim's description that the suspects had fled in a red car with a hatchback, the township police dispatchers issued a countywide broadcast of the suspects and vehicle.

New Brunswick police responded immediately that a vehicle matching that description had been stolen from their town earlier in the day. While contacting her credit card company to cancel her card, the victim was informed that a transaction had just been made at the Exxon gas station on Route 18, New Brunswick, police said.

After receiving this information from the Edison police, New Brunswick police Lt. J.T. Miller and Sgt. Royce Cradic located the suspected vehicle, conducted a motor vehicle stop, and arrested three suspects: Arthur Matthews, 22, and Jamilla Moses, 23, both of New Brunswick, and a 16-year-old juvenile male of Franklin.

A subsequent investigation by Edison police Detectives Alan Sciarrillo and Michael Michalski resulted in the three individuals being connected to and charged with the Dec. 31 robbery as well as two other robberies that occurred at the Menlo Park Mall on Dec. 23 and Dec. 24, according to police.

After further investigation, Edison detectives also arrested Karnesia Butler, 20, of Somerset, on Jan. 2, according to police, and charged her in connection with two robberies.

The other two robberies in the mall parking lot areas occurred Dec. 23 and 24. On Dec. 23 at 9 p.m., a 42-year-old female reported that the suspects tried to gain entry to her vehicle by pulling on the door's handles while the victim was inside.

On Dec. 24 at 12:15 a.m., the suspects are accused of approaching a 25-year-old woman in the parking lot and demanding her purse, police said. The suspects pushed the victim to the ground and took her purse.

Matthews and Moses were each charged with two counts of robbery for the Dec. 24 and 31 incidents and conspiracy to commit robbery for the Dec. 23 incident. They are in the Middlesex County Adult Correction Center after failing to each post $50,000.

Butler was charged with one count of robbery for the Dec. 31 incident and one count of conspiracy to commit robbery for the Dec. 23 incident. She is in the Middlesex County Adult Correction Center after failing to post $75,000.

The 16-year-old juvenile was charged with one count of robbery for the Dec. 23 incident and conspiracy to commit robbery for the Dec. 24 and Dec. 31 incidents. He is in Middlesex County Juvenile Detention Center.

Edison Police Director Brian Collier said, "The collective efforts in making these arrests represent the exact type of law enforcement collaboration that serves our citizens best. The expeditious communication between Edison and New Brunswick police dispatchers, the alert observation of two of New Brunswick's finest, and the diligent investigation of two Edison detectives all resulted in the timely arrest of these individuals."