By: Yuritza Arroyo
On Tuesday, June 6, an Atlantic County jury convicted Michael Hayes, 46, of Absecon, of the following:
• First-degree robbery.
• First-degree unlawful possession of a handgun by a person with a prior NERA conviction.
• Second-degree conspiracy to commit robbery.
• Second-degree burglary.
• Second-degree conspiracy to commit burglary.
• Second-degree conspiracy to commit aggravated assault.
• second-degree unlawful possession of a handgun.
• Second-degree possession of a firearm for an unlawful purpose.
• Second-degree certain persons not to possess firearms.
• Third-degree conspiracy to commit aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.
• Third-degree criminal restraint.
• Third-degree terroristic threats.
• Third-degree theft.
• Third-degree conspiracy to commit theft.
• Fourth-degree aggravated assault by pointing a firearm at another.
According to authorities, during the course of the two-week trial, the jury heard evidence that, weeks leading up to the incident, Hayes conspired with an unknown accomplice to rob the victim.
Authorities said on September 15, 2020, Hayes and his accomplice waited outside the victim's house in Buena Borough with masks on and confronted him at gunpoint as the victim left to go to work around 6:30 a.m.
They duct-taped him and forced him back inside his house and into his bedroom.
The jury found that Hayes held the victim at gunpoint in his room, threatening to shoot him in the head. The victim was robbed of approximately $1,000.00 cash and a necklace.
According to officials, as this was occurring, the unknown accomplice walked down the hall and pointed a gun at the victim's father, and told him and his wife to stay quiet.
Officials say the victim was able to break free from the duct tape and attempted to escape down the stairs.
The jury found that Hayes told the accomplice to shoot the victim, and the accomplice obliged, firing one shot that grazed the victim’s head. The victim was able to make it safely across the street to his neighbor’s house, where 911 was called.
Hayes and his accomplice fled the scene. The case was broken open when Hayes’ fingerprint was located on the discarded duct tape at the crime scene. The Franklin Township Police Department investigated this case with assistance from the High-Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA) Task Force and the Richland County (South Carolina) Sheriff’s Department Forensic Sciences Laboratory. Sentencing is scheduled for July 18,