Admitted Murderer: Guilty Of Point Pleasant Beach Armed Robbery

An admitted murderer said Friday he attempted to rob and carjack a victim outside the Green Planet coffee shop in Point Pleasant Beach in 2014 four days after he fatally shot a 19-year-old college student in West Orange.

Ocean County Prosecutor Joseph D. Coronato announced that Ali Brown, 33, of Seattle pleaded guilty to robbery and unlawful possession of a handgun, according to the Ocean County Prosecutor's Office.

Read more: Alleged Terrorist Admits Killing Essex County Teen

The guilty plea stems from the June 29, 2014 incident in Point Pleasant Beach where Brown approached the victim, Harold Fournier, outside of the Green Planet Coffee Shop. Brown displayed a handgun he had tucked into his waistband to the victim while demanding he go with him, according to the OCPO.

The victim instead fled inside the coffee shop screaming for help when Brown ordered the victim and others to the ground at gunpoint, demanding the victim’s keys, cellphone and wallet. The victim surrendered his keys and wallet, but the defendant was unable to drive away because of his inability to drive a manual transmission vehicle.

Brown eventually fled to Essex County where he committed another armed robbery for which he was tried and convicted.

The state will be seeking a life term in prison without parole when the defendant is sentenced on May 11, 2018. The guilty plea will mark defendant’s third conviction under New Jersey’s “Three Strikes Law” in which criminals convicted for three specifically enumerated crimes are sentenced to life in prison without the ability for parole upon that third conviction.

Brown is currently serving a 37 year sentence for the first degree robbery he committed in Essex County following the Point Pleasant Beach incident. Brown also faces life in prison without parole for charges of Terrorism, Murder, Robbery and associated weapons offenses for the shooting death of Brendan Tevlin, four days before the robbery in Point Pleasant Beach. He recently entered guilty pleas.

OCPO photo