A suspect that remained in a neighborhood after committing at least two armed robberies was swiftly apprehended last night by authorities in Newark.
The incidents began at around 9 p.m. in the 900 block of South Orange Avenue (near Stuyvesant Avenue) in the city's West Ward where cops were called to a liquor store on reports of an armed robbery in progress.
Officers arriving to the scene and were met by an employee who reported that a black male suspect entered the establishment and pointed what appeared to be a gun and demanded cash from the clerk.
The suspect took an undetermined amount of cash before fleeing the store according to reports.
Police looked over surveillance videos from the store where it showed the suspect had entered the store a few minutes before the robbery but exited only to return to the store wearing a mask and armed with a gun.
The suspect then walked several yards across the street to a gas station where he pointed the weapon at a taxi driver and took an undetermined amount of cash according to reports.
Multiple police units that were already on patrol in the area canvassed several blocks, searching for the suspect when they located him just "standing around" about a block away.
Officers took the suspect into custody and found a fake gun in his possession.
There were immediate reports of physical injuries.
It is not clear if the suspect is responsible for at least one other reported robbery that occurred in the area around the same time frame.