Four teens have been charged with robbery and weapons related offenses after using replica guns to commit four armed robberies in Atlantic City while driving a stolen vehicle, authorities said.
The armed robberies occurred over the course of 70 minutes Thursday morning while the group was occupying a vehicle stolen five days prior from Maryland, the Atlantic City Police Department said in a news release Saturday.
Dvaughndre Adams of Hyattsville, Md., and Amari Wright of Atlantic City, both 18, are charged with carjacking, four count of robbery, four counts aggravated assault, nine counts of conspiracy, and four counts of unlawful possession of a weapon and possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose.
Adams and Wright also are charged with employing a juvenile in theft of a vehicle. They were accompanied by two teens from Maryland, age 14 and 13, who face similar charges.
Officers responded to the first robbery, involving an 89-year-old man, at 6:27 a.m. Thursday in the 200 block of North New York Avenue in Atlantic City, police said. The man had been struck in the chest and threatened with guns before having his jacket, cash and cell phone stolen, according to the press release.
The second robbery was reported at 6:36 a.m. in the 1200 block of Baltic Avenue, during which suspects pointed guns at the victim, 45, before stealing a cell phone, Kindle and lunch bag, police said.
Four minutes later, police responded to a third robbery in the 300 block of Indiana Avenue. The victim, 84, surrendered keys to his vehicle after being threatened, police said.
The final robbery occurred at 7:38 a.m. at California and Pacific Avenues when the suspects approached a 21-year-old woman who was in a car and ordered her out of the vehicle at gunpoint, according to police.
After an unsuccessful attempt at stealing the woman’s vehicle, one of the suspects struck the victim in the head with a replica gun. The teens fled after the woman began to yell for help, police said.
The group fled onto the boardwalk but were later located in the 200 block of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard in Atlantic City. All four were arrested after a brief foot pursuit without further incident.
Afterward, officers located three guns tossed by the teens as they ran and, upon further examination, determined they were fake. The teens were using Airsoft guns, or replica toy guns.
All four await first appearances while being held at Harborfields Detention Facility.
Anyone with further information is urged to contact the Atlantic City Police Department Criminal Investigations Section at 609-347-5766 or text anonymously to tip411 (847411).
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Jackie Roman may be reached at jroman@njadvancemedia.com.
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