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Accused Murderer Admits Robbing Passaic Nightclub Of $26G At Gunpoint

PASSAIC, N.J. -- An East Orange man awaiting trial for murder admitted in federal court on Monday that he robbed a Passaic club at gunpoint of $26,084 four months earlier.

Shaheed Blamahsah

Shaheed Blamahsah

Photo Credit: ESSEX COUNTY JAIL

Shaheed Blamahsah, also known as “Aboo,” 29, told a U.S. District Court judge that he and an accomplice got the cash by threatening an employee with a gun the night of Sept. 6, 2015.

Blamahsah said he and the accomplice – identified by federal authorities as 28-year-old Keontrae “Taz” Lawrence of South Orange – made the employee dump the contents of two safes into two purses and then count to 100 as they left the club.

Police chased the getaway car through Passaic, Newark and East Orange before the occupants bailed out.

Lawrence and another defendant – identified as Jimmy “Flip Cooper, 32, of Irvington – were arrested two months later.

Blamahsah, meanwhile, was arrested and charged for a Jan. 30, 2016 killing. He remained held Monday in the Essex County Jail pending the murder trial.

His sentencing on the Passaic nightclub holdup is scheduled for Sept. 11. 

Cooper and Lawrence were indicted in March for their alleged roles in the robbery.

Acting U.S. Attorney Fitzpatrick credited special agents of the FBI and the Passaic County Prosecutor’s Office, as well as the Passaic County Sheriff’s Office, the Passaic Police Department, and the Newark Division of Public Safety for their assistance.

Handling the case for the government is Assistant U.S. Attorney Elaine K. Lou of Fitzpatrick’s Criminal Division in Newark. 

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