Two 30-year-old New Jersey men robbed a pair of bodegas and a liquor store in Passaic County at gunpoint in a two-day span this summer, federal prosecutors said.
Carlos Diaz and Edward Porter stole thousands of dollars from a liquor store and a bodega in Passaic and bodega in Paterson on Aug. 22 and Aug. 23, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for New Jersey said in a statement Tuesday.
Both were arrested Sept. 9 and held in Passaic County before being taken into federal custody on Tuesday. The men used the same Acura as the getaway car in each of the robberies, according to charging documents.
The first robbery took place on Aug. 22 when the pair and a third unnamed person stole about $2,000, a jug containing coins and numerous boxes of cigarettes from a Passaic bodega, authorities said.
Diaz and Porter, who were wearing face masks, carrying semi-automatic guns, ordered customers to the ground, according to court papers.
The next evening, Diaz and Porter hit a liquor store in Passaic, authorities said. During the robbery, Porter pistol-whipped an employee before stealing $2,500 from the store’s register and another $1,500 from a lottery kiosk, authorities said. He also swiped several bottles of Hennessy cognac, authorities said.
Fifteen minutes later, they rolled up to a bodega in Paterson and ordered customers to the ground at gunpoint, authorities said. Porter robbed several people in the business and stole money from the cash register, prosecutors said. He also pushed a man and “wrestled with a female victim, dragging her to the floor while attempting to take her handbag,” according to court documents.
Both were pulled over in the Acura two days later.
Diaz and Porter are charged with one count of conspiracy to obstruct commerce by robbery and one count of using, carrying, and brandishing a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence.
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Jeff Goldman may be reached at jeff_goldman@njadvancemedia.com.
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