Crime & Safety

Blind Bandit Among Four Charged in Teaneck Armed Robbery, Police Say

Robbers took cell phones and cash from two people at Linden Avenue and Kipp Street Tuesday night, according to police.

Teaneck police have charged a blind man and three accomplices in connection with a gunpoint holdup Tuesday night, authorities said.  

Two Englewood residents told officers they arranged to meet a girl at Linden Avenue and Kipp Street, but instead were confronted by two robbers wearing masks covering the bottom of their faces, according to police. One of the assailants pulled up his shirt to show a handgun and threatened to shoot.

The robbers took cell phones and cash before fleeing on foot, Police Chief Robert A. Wilson said in a statement. The victims gave officers a description of the bandits, including that the man who didn’t show a gun appeared to be blind.

Wilson said the description was based on how the robber without the gun was “being led around” by the other, and the distinctive look of his eyes.

The investigation led Teaneck detectives to a house on American Legion Drive where Andre Ziemoore, 21, Marshall Harper, 25, and Ayesha Mitchell, 22, all live, Wilson added. The easily-recognizable Harper later told police he is completely blind.

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Harper was holding onto Ziemoore’s shoulder during the robbery, police explained.

Township detectives setup surveillance on the house Wednesday and were watching when the three, joined by 19-year-old Englewood resident Jamila Eason, jumped in a minivan and drove to a nearby Stop and Shop, the police chief said. Ziemoore got out and picked up a plastic bag buried in snow near a tree at the supermarket.

Police stopped the four a short time later on Palisade Avenue and got consent to search the van from Mitchell who was driving, according to Wilson. Inside the bag, police said they found the two stolen phones and brought the four to headquarters.

Detectives also got a search warrant for the American Legion Drive house where they turned up a black handgun and clothing worn by the robbers, Wilson said.

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Ziemoore and Harper were charged with robbery, conspiracy to commit robbery, possession of a firearm for an unlawful purpose, unlawful possession of a firearm and luring of an adult. Ziemoore was also charged as a felon in possession of a gun.

Both were ordered held at the Bergen County Jail on $250,000 bail.

Mitchell faces charges of conspiracy to commit robbery, possession of a firearm for an unlawful purpose, unlawful possession of a firearm, hindering arrest, marijuana possession and receiving stolen property. She was being held on $175,000 bail.

Eason, who the victims originally planned to meet, was charged with conspiracy to commit robbery and luring of an adult, according to police. Her bail was set at $100,000.

All four are scheduled for a Dec. 23 court appearance at Teaneck Municipal Court.


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