An armed robbery turned brutal assault of a store clerk in the city's South Ward left a man with critical injuries this afternoon.
Police are looking for a black male who was last seen wearing dark clothing and a black mask when he entered the Pronto Auto Parts Store located in the 100 block of Elizbeth Ave. at around noon and announced the robbery.
The suspect jumped over the counter and demanded cash from the male clerk shortly before viciously striking the man in the head with a blunt force object or hammer.
The suspect then fled the store taking several hundred dollars according to reports.
EMS transported the victim to University Hospital in Newark suffering major blood loss.
The Newark Police Department are investigation.