Months-Long Manhunt Ends With Five Charged In South Hackensack Pistol-Whipping Robbery

A months-long manhunt tied to a pistol-whipping robbery in South Hackensack has ended with five men under arrest, including two who were tracked down hiding out in Pennsylvania. Investigators say the case began when a man was struck over the head with what he believed was a handgun during a robbery that also saw cash and other belongings taken from him.

Bergen County Prosecutor Mark Musella said the five men were arrested following a months-long investigation, according to Daily Voice. The robbery happened on Saddle River Road in South Hackensack on May 9, 2026, and police only learned about it after responding to a hospital, where the victim was being treated for a non-life-threatening head wound before he was later released. Investigators identified the suspects as Ajahmir S. Cuttino, Rhyonne S. Jackson, Ajahwan T. Kenner, Antrell Monroe, and Jahad K. Watson, and arrest warrants for all five were issued on August 26.

All five defendants were charged with first-degree armed robbery, unlawful possession of a weapon, possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose, aggravated assault, and aggravated assault by pointing a firearm, per the same account. One participant in the robbery appeared to have a handgun, and the group fled the scene in a black Jeep Grand Cherokee, investigators said.

A Ghost Gun Turns Up In Passaic

The break in the case came together in Passaic County on August 27, when Bergen County Prosecutor's Office detectives, working with Passaic police, West Orange police, and South Hackensack police, located Jackson, Kenner, and Monroe. Investigators then executed a search warrant at Jackson's Passaic home, an operation that drew assistance from the Bergen County Regional SWAT Team.

During that search, detectives found an unserialized firearm — commonly known as a ghost gun — inside a backpack believed to belong to Jackson, the report notes. The weapon was loaded with a high-capacity magazine. Jackson, 24, of Passaic, faces additional unlawful possession of a weapon and possession of an unserialized firearm charges on top of the robbery counts, the article states.

Those extra charges carry serious weight under New Jersey law. Third-degree crimes in New Jersey can carry three to five years in state prison and fines up to $15,000. Since 2018, New Jersey has also capped legal magazine capacity at 10 rounds, meaning possession of a high-capacity magazine like the one found in Jackson's backpack is a separate fourth-degree offense carrying up to 18 months in prison, per the Fairfield Police Department.

Two Suspects Caught Hiding In Pennsylvania

Jackson, Kenner, and Monroe were all taken into custody without incident and are being held in Bergen County Jail pending further court action. Kenner, 26, lives in West Orange, while Monroe, 24, relocated to Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, after graduating from Passaic High School in 2021, where he played varsity basketball and football before continuing his football career as a running back at Georgia Military College, according to his MaxPreps profile.

The same day detectives closed in on Jackson's Passaic home, South Hackensack Police Department detectives and Bergen County Prosecutor's Office investigators located Cuttino and Watson in Pennsylvania, with help from Scranton police and Wilkes-Barre City police. Cuttino, 23, of Scranton, and Watson, 24, of Wilkes-Barre, were both taken into custody without incident. Cuttino was lodged in Lackawanna County Prison, while Watson was lodged in Luzerne County Jail, and both men were being held pending extradition to Bergen County.

That extradition process is not a formality that can be skipped. Under federal law, suspects arrested in another state must be transferred through formal governor's warrants or extradition waivers before local county authorities can take custody, a legal requirement outlined by the Legal Information Institute. Hoodline previously covered a similar Bergen fugitive case involving out-of-state suspects facing the same interstate transfer steps.

What The Five Defendants Are Facing

If convicted of first-degree armed robbery, all five men face steep statutory exposure under New Jersey's No Early Release Act, known as NERA, which mandates serving at least 85 percent of a 10-to-20-year sentence before parole eligibility, according to the SKA Law Group. Fines for that charge alone can reach $200,000, and New Jersey law carries a legal presumption of incarceration for first-degree robbery even for defendants with no prior record.

The case remains under the direction of Bergen County Prosecutor Mark Musella, who oversees a staff of roughly 270 personnel and supervisory authority over about 2,700 sworn officers across 72 law enforcement agencies countywide. The robbery itself unfolded in South Hackensack, Bergen County's smallest municipality by land area at just 0.75 square miles, a compact township of about 2,701 residents split across three separate, non-contiguous sections, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. According to a Bergen County master-plan document hosted on bergen.nj.us, South Hackensack is located in the southerly portion of the county and consists of three separate sections.