A late-night THC cartridge purchase in Teaneck allegedly turned into an armed robbery when the seller showed up with two other men, guns drawn, demanding cash and a digital bank transfer. Bergen County Prosecutor Mark Musella announced the arrests of three Paterson men on Tuesday following what authorities describe as a months-long investigation into the August incident.
According to the Bergen County Prosecutor's Office, the buyer met with an acquaintance shortly after 11 p.m. on Aug. 23 to purchase THC cartridges in Teaneck. That acquaintance arrived with two other men in a dark-colored vehicle, per the prosecutor's account. Once inside the vehicle, all three men allegedly pointed guns at the buyer, took his cash and cellphone, and threatened him while demanding he transfer additional money through a mobile banking app, as reported by Daily Voice.
The suspects fled before police were notified, and the Teaneck Police Department didn't receive a report of the alleged robbery until the following day, Aug. 24, according to the prosecutor's office. That gap set off what became a months-long joint investigation between Teaneck police and the prosecutor's office.
Investigation Leads to Paterson Arrests
The investigation identified the suspects as 23-year-old Zamair Johnson, 24-year-old Zaier Jones and 25-year-old Jaden Nickels, all of Paterson. Charges against all three were authorized on Monday, Oct. 19, the station's report notes. Each man faces first-degree robbery, three second-degree weapons charges, third-degree terroristic threats, and fourth-degree aggravated assault by pointing a firearm.
The next day, detectives and the Bergen County Regional SWAT Team executed search warrants at the men's Paterson homes and at a Wayne hotel where Johnson and Nickels had reportedly been staying. All three were arrested without incident, per the same account, and taken to the Bergen County Jail to await their first court appearances in Bergen County Superior Court in Hackensack.
A Similar Case From Teaneck's Past
The circumstances echo an earlier Teaneck case, though the two incidents aren't otherwise shown to be connected. In October 2019, Teaneck police with help from a Bergen County SWAT team captured an 18-year-old local man accused of robbing a couple with an imitation handgun during a drug deal, according to Daily Voice's reporting from that year.
No charging documents or probable-cause affidavits were made publicly available to independently confirm the exact statutory counts, and it remains unclear whether investigators recovered any firearms, cash or the stolen cellphone during Tuesday's searches. The case's eventual outcome in court has not yet been determined.
