Middlesex County Prosecutor Andrew C. Carey announced today that a 33-year-old Plainfield man has been found guilty of robbing a delicatessen in Piscataway, fleeing police and injuring two motorists in a crash before he was apprehended in Linden.
Christopher Desa was convicted on April 16, 2015 of counts of armed robbery, theft, eluding police, resisting arrest and aggravated assault following a trial that began in New Brunswick on March 23, 2015.
He could be ordered to serve a term of life in prison when he is sentenced in New Brunswick by Superior Court Judge Alberto Rivas on June 8, 2015. Desa also was acquitted of counts of aggravated assault, robbery, hindering his own apprehension, aggravated assault for possessing an imitation handgun and possession of a weapon identified as a Jeep used as a getaway vehicle.
The jury, which deliberated over three days, rejected the contention that the defendant injured a police officer and threatened a second deli employee during the incident.
During the trial, Middlesex County Assistant Prosecutor Joseph Surman and Middlesex County Assistant Prosecutor Timothy Kerrigan presented evidence and testimony showing Desa robbed the Boro Market Deli on Stelton Road in Piscataway on October 16, 2012.
Police traced the suspect to a motel in Linden and fired shots as Desa as he fled in the Jeep, which crashed into several cars on Routes 1&9 before he was apprehended.
Two people in one of the vehicles were injured when Desa crashed into them.