Middlesex County Prosecutor Andrew C. Carey said that a 32-year-old Highland Park man was sentenced today to serve 64 years in a New Jersey state prison for shooting and robbing a New Brunswick resident.
Lewis C. Hooper, who was sentenced in New Brunswick as a persistent offender, must serve 85 percent of the term before he can be eligible for parole.
The sentence was imposed by Superior Court Judge Alberto Rivas.
Hooper was sentenced after he pleaded guilty on June 17, 2016 to attempted murder, armed robbery, robbery, unlawful possession of a weapon, possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose, two counts of hindering his apprehension and the apprehension of two co-defendants and resisting arrest.
The defendant pleaded guilty to all of the charges handed up by a grand jury in Middlesex County. The case was handled by Middlesex County First Assistant Prosecutor Christopher Kuberiet.
Hooper was charged after an investigation showed that on January 15, 2013, he shot a man in the head and took the victim’s property in New Brunswick. The victim, now 25 years old, survived the shooting, but is severely disabled.
Hooper and the two co-defendants fled the scene, but he was apprehended by police during a brief chase on Somerset Street in New Brunswick.
The co-defendants have been identified as Chinnika Lockhart, 29, and Mohamed Kamara, 30, both of the Somerset section of Franklin Township.
Lockhart pleaded guilty in the case and is serving a nine-year prison term with no chance of parole until she completes 85 percent of the sentence.
Kamara is awaiting trial.