Police Arrest Men Accused Of Robbing Nutley Dunkin’ Donuts

NUTLEY, NJ — Police apprehended three people accused of robbing Dunkin’ Donuts locations in Nutley and Secaucus on Easter morning, authorities announced Tuesday.

Nutley police previously said that four people wearing masks stole $740 in cash from the Dunkin’ on Washington Avenue early Sunday morning. One of them allegedly flashed a handgun during the robbery, and the suspects fled the scene north on Washington Avenue in a silver Chevy Equinox with no license plate.

Nobody was injured, police said, noting that the suspects were described as three men and a woman. Read More: Dunkin' Donuts In Nutley Robbed On Easter Morning

According to the Secaucus Police Department, another robbery involving the same suspects took place at a Dunkin’ store in their town a few hours earlier.

Authorities released the following statement about the Secaucus incident, which also included four suspects, although all of them were described as males:

“On April 9 at 2:56 a.m., Secaucus police responded to the Dunkin’ Donuts at 216 County Avenue on a report of an armed robbery. Two males – later identified as Ocean Roberts, 19, of Bayonne, and Yanik Pendleton, 22, of Bayonne – entered the establishment. Roberts brandished a black handgun. While holding the store employee at gunpoint, they stole approximately $350 in cash from the register and fled to an awaiting Chevrolet Equinox that was occupied.”

Meanwhile, Wilmer Arias-Dejesus, 19, of East Newark, and another male suspect acted as lookouts while Pendleton and Roberts were inside the store, Secaucus police said.

Detectives from the Secaucus Police anti-crime unit worked with Nutley police detectives and broadcasted the information gathered to all law enforcement agencies in the state after the Easter robberies.

Two days later, police got a break in the case when the alleged getaway car was spotted in Springfield, authorities said:

“On April 11 at 12:15 a.m., a diligent police officer from the Springfield Police Department located the Chevrolet Equinox in a parking lot near a Wawa in that jurisdiction. After an on-scene investigation was conducted, officers located a black 9mm handgun with a defaced serial number and 17-round magazine within the Chevrolet Equinox. Roberts was placed under arrest for unlawfully possessing the handgun.”

Roberts, Pendleton and Arias-Dejesus have since been charged with multiple criminal offenses, police said:

• On April 11, 2023, Ocean Roberts, 19, of Bayonne, was arrested and charged with Armed Robbery [2C:15-1a], Conspiracy to Commit Armed Robbery [2C:5-2a(1)/2C:15-2a], Unlawful Possession of Handgun [2C:39-5(b)], Possession of a Weapon for an Unlawful Purpose [2C:39-4a(1)], Possession of a Defaced Firearm [2C:39-3(d)], Possession of a High Capacity Magazine [2C:39-3(j)], Aggravated Assault [2C:12-1b(4)], Criminal Restraint [2C:13-2a] and Endangering the Welfare of a Child [2C:24-4a(2)]. He is being held in the Essex County Correctional Facility.
• On April 15, 2023, Yanik Pendleton, 22, of Bayonne, was arrested and charged with Armed Robbery [2C:15-1a], Conspiracy to Commit Armed Robbery [2C:5-2a(1)/2C:15-2a]. He was transported to the Hudson County Correctional Facility.
• On April 16, 2023, Wilmer Arias-Dejesus, 19, of East Newark, was arrested and charged with Armed Robbery [2C:15-1a], Conspiracy to Commit Armed Robbery [2C:5-2a(1)/2C:15-2a]. He was transported to the Hudson County Correctional Facility.

An investigation is ongoing and more arrests may follow, police said. Anyone with additional information can contact the Secaucus Police Detective Division at (201) 330-2052 or detectivedivsion@secaucusnjpolice.gov.

Secaucus Police Chief Dennis Miller commended the involved agencies for teaming up for the investigation.

“It is amazing what can be accomplished when law enforcement joins forces and works together,” Miller said.

Nutley Police Director Alphonse Petracco and Chief Thomas Strumolo also commended the cooperation between police departments that led to the arrests.

Petracco said all three suspects are currently detained while the investigation continues.

“We may uncover information that leads to accomplices that are subject to arrest and prosecution as well,” Petracco said.

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