A Rahway resident has been charged in connection with the fatal shooting of a city taxi driver following a robbery attempt last month, acting Union County Prosecutor Grace H. Park announced Friday.
Nathaniel Young Jr., 20, is charged with first-degree murder, first-degree felony murder, first-degree robbery, and a second-degree weapons offense.
It was shortly before 11 p.m. on Tuesday, August 25 when patrol units were called to the 1400 block of Bedford Street in Rahway, according to Union County Assistant Prosecutor Albert Cernadas Jr., who is prosecuting the case. At that location, arriving officers found the body of Imad Alasmar, 57, of Edison, in his taxi, Cernadas said.
Immediately following the shooting, Alasmar’s vehicle had collided with a parked car, resulting in injuries to an adult male and an adult female, who was transported to a local hospital for treatment.
An intensive joint investigation involving resulted in Young being identified as a suspect in the case.
He was formally charged Friday morning and currently is lodged in an Essex County corrections center on an unrelated matter.
Bail for Young was set at $1 million by state Superior Court Judge William A. Daniel.
Convictions on charges of murder and felony murder commonly result in sentences ranging from 30 years to life in state prison.
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