The case of a violent robbery by masked men at a Newark Airport restaurant has finally been closed, with all the suspects in custody, officials announced Thursday.
Two men barged into the manager's back office at the Grain Station restaurant late at night on June 27, 2010.
They had gained access using a timeline, floor plan information and a door code supplied by a restaurant employee, Port Authority Police Superintendent Michael Fedorko said a news conference Thursday.
Surveillance video from the robbery shows the manager trying to push the suspects out, but the robbers overpower him. In the ensuing struggle, one of the suspects hits the manager with a wrench in his face and head.
The manager is then bound by Duct tape on his hands, legs and mouth, the video shows.
The manager eventually complied with the suspects and provided them with access to the store safe, police said. The suspects wound up taking $20,000 from the safe.
Surveillance video from the robbery was distributed to news outlets after the incident, but it wasn't until the fall of 2011 when detectives got a break in the case, Fedorko said. An incarcerated inmate negotiating a lesser sentence came forward with information about one of the suspect's identity.
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With the new lead, Port Authority detectives on Feb. 2 were able to locate and arrest 20-year-old Ibn Corley, one of the suspects identified in the video.
"Once Corley was arrested, detectives quickly unraveled the complex scheme to commit the robbery with the help of a restaurant employee," Port Authority Police said in a separate statement. The employee, Jihad Bey, 24, was arrested the same day.
The third suspect, Taliv Amos, 20, was already incarcerated on an unrelated murder charge. He was served with an arrest warrant Thursday for his part in the robbery, police said.
Corley, of Newark, and Amos, of East Orange, were each charged with first-degree robbery, aggravated assault, and weapon possession charges. Bey was charged with conspiracy for robbery.
Corley and Bey are in Union County Jail, while Amos remains in Essex County Jail, authorities said. Attorney information for the suspects was not immediately available.
