THC Cartridge Meetup Turned Gunpoint Robbery in Teaneck, Prosecutor Says; Three Paterson Men Arrested 58 Days Later

TEANECK, N.J. — A late-night meeting to buy THC cartridges in Teaneck turned into an armed robbery inside a car, with three men pointing guns at the buyer, taking his cash and his phone, and pressing him to send more money through a mobile banking app, according to a Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office release issued Tuesday, Oct. 20, 2026. Arrests came 58 days after the robbery.

Zamair Johnson, 23, Zaier Jones, 24, and Jaden Nickels, 25, all of Paterson, were arrested Tuesday after detectives, assisted by the Bergen County Regional SWAT Team, searched their homes in Paterson and a hotel in Wayne, Prosecutor Mark Musella announced. Each is charged with first-degree robbery and five other weapons, threat and assault offenses.

Charges are accusations. Johnson, Jones and Nickels are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt, as the prosecutor’s release states.

What prosecutors say happened

Shortly after 11 p.m. on Sunday, Aug. 23, 2026, the victim met an acquaintance in Teaneck to buy THC cartridges, the release says. The acquaintance arrived in a dark-colored vehicle with two other people.

When the victim got into the vehicle, all three pointed firearms at him, took U.S. currency and threatened him while demanding that he digitally transfer more money using a mobile banking app, prosecutors allege. The three took the victim’s cell phone before he was able to get out of the vehicle, and they left the area before police were notified, according to the release.

Teaneck police received the report on Aug. 24, the day after the robbery, and notified the prosecutor’s Robbery-Homicide Division, whose detectives joined the investigation, the release says. The months-long joint investigation identified Johnson, Jones and Nickels as the suspects.

Charges and arrests

Charges against all three were authorized on Monday, Oct. 19, the release says. Each is charged with:

• First-degree robbery (N.J.S.A. 2C:15-1a(1))
• Second-degree unlawful possession of a weapon (N.J.S.A. 2C:39-5b(1))
• Second-degree possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose (N.J.S.A. 2C:39-4a(1))
• Second-degree certain persons not to possess a firearm (N.J.S.A. 2C:39-7b(1))
• Third-degree terroristic threats (N.J.S.A. 2C:12-3b)
• Fourth-degree aggravated assault by pointing a firearm (N.J.S.A. 2C:12-1b(4))

On Tuesday, Oct. 20, detectives executed court-authorized search warrants at the three men’s homes in Paterson, and at a hotel in Wayne where Johnson and Nickels were staying, according to the release. All three were found and arrested without incident and were sent to the Bergen County Jail pending a first appearance in Superior Court in Hackensack.

The investigation was conducted by the prosecutor’s office, under Chief Jeff Angermeyer, and the Teaneck Police Department, under Chief Seth Kriegel. Musella thanked the Teaneck police and the Bergen County Regional SWAT Team, as well as the Hasbrouck Heights, Paramus, Paterson, Tenafly and Wayne police departments, the Passaic County Prosecutor’s Office and the Port Authority Police Department.

What the release doesn’t say

• How much was taken. The release does not give the amount of cash, or say whether the victim actually sent any money through the banking app.
• The guns. It does not say whether any firearms, the victim’s phone or the vehicle were recovered in Tuesday’s searches.
• The certain-persons charge. That charge covers people barred by law from possessing a firearm; the release does not say why the men were allegedly barred.
• Where in Teaneck. The release does not say where in the township the meeting happened, or which of the three men was the victim’s acquaintance.
• The delay. The release does not say why the robbery was reported the next day rather than that night, or what led detectives to the three men.

Open questions

• Will prosecutors seek to keep the three men in jail until trial, and what will a judge decide at their first appearance?
• Do the men have lawyers who will comment? No defense attorneys are named in the release.
• Why were other agencies, including the Port Authority police and the Tenafly, Paramus and Hasbrouck Heights departments, involved? The release thanks them but does not describe their roles.

Bergen TV checked the prosecutor’s press-release page and the Teaneck Police Department’s page on the township website at about 5:15 p.m. ET on Oct. 20, 2026; Seth B. Kriegel is listed there as chief of police. This story is based only on the prosecutor’s release.

Sources: Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office, “Three Paterson Men Charged in Armed Robbery in Teaneck,” Oct. 20, 2026; Teaneck Police Department page, Township of Teaneck. Photo: KForce / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0.