Man Who Robbed Person At Gunpoint In Berkeley Sentenced

BERKELEY, NJ — A Berkeley Township man has been sentenced in a pair of incidents where he threatened people with a handgun, including one where he robbed a victim during a business transaction, the Ocean County Prosecutor's Office said.

Shakim D. Varick, 23, was sentenced on Friday to 10 years in prison for robbery subject to the No Early Release Act and 18 months in prison for aggravated assault, with 18 months of parole ineligibility, by Superior Court Judge Kenneth T. Palmer, Prosecutor Bradley D. Billhimer said.

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Varick had pleaded guilty in February to robbery in the Jan. 13, 2025, incident at the Eastern Soccer Complex, and to aggravated assault in an unrelated incident in Berkeley on May 30, 2024, the prosecutor's office said.

Under the No Early Release Act, Varick must serve 85 percent of the 10-year prison sentence before becoming eligible for parole.

The sentences will run concurrently.

In the January 2025 incident, Varick had met up with the victim at the Eastern Soccer Complex for a business transaction, brandishing a handgun and demanding more money, and threatening the victim with serious bodily harm if he failed to comply. The victim ran away and called Berkeley Township police, who were able to identify Varick as the suspect and arrest him, authorities said.

In the May 2024 incident, Varick approached a person at the basketball courts on Third Avenue in the Manitou Park section of Berkeley Township at about 10 p.m. and pointed a firearm at the victim, authorities said. Varick was later identified as the person responsible and arrested, authorities said.

Varick has been held at the Ocean County Jail since Jan. 13, 2025, when he was arrested in the robbery at the soccer complex, the prosecutor's office said.