Community Corner

Suspect in Deadly Mall Carjacking Arrested in Pennsylvania

Written by Mary Ellen Alu

One of the four men charged in the fatal carjacking last weekend of an attorney at The Mall at Short Hills in New Jersey was captured at a hotel in the Lehigh Valley, authorities announced Saturday morning.

Basim Henry, 32, of Newark, N.J., was arrested by an FBI Task Force at the hotel, while the three others were arrested in their homes.

The manager of the Comfort Inn on 25th Street in Palmer Township, Pa., told lehighvalleylive.com that FBI agents had arrived quietly at the hotel about 1:15 a.m. Saturday, but she did not know if the agents had taken anyone into custody because they did not leave through the lobby.

Henry and the others arrested—Hanif Thompson, 29, of Irvington, and Newark residents Karif Ford, 31, and Kevin Roberts, 33—were each charged with murder, felony murder, carjacking, conspiracy, possession of a weapon and possession of a weapon for unlawful purpose. 

Bail was set at $2 million for each of the defendants.

Dustin Friedland, 30, was shot in the head when he and his wife returned to their SUV in a parking deck shortly after 9 p.m. last Sunday. Friedland was pronounced dead at 11:45 p.m. that night at Morristown Medical Center. His wife, Jamie, who was uninjured, was also transported to the hospital.

According to Acting Essex County Prosecutor Carolyn Murray, who held a press conference Saturday morning, the couple's Range Rover had been the target—not Friedland. Authorities declined to say which man allegedly pulled the trigger.


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