NEWARK, N.J., Dec. 21 (UPI) -- Four men were charged Saturday with killing a lawyer during a carjacking outside an upscale New Jersey mall, police said.
The four are being in lieu of $2 million bail each, the Star-Ledger of Newark reported.
They face charges that include murder and felony murder.
The victim, Dustin Friedland, 30, of Hoboken, N.J., was shot last Sunday in a parking garage at the Short Hills Mall. He and his wife had been shopping and returned to their Range Rover just after the mall closed at 9 p.m.
Acting Essex County Prosecutor Carolyn Murray said the motive for the crime was the Range Rover, which was found the next day parked near an abandoned house in Newark. She said police had received tips that led to the arrests.
"The sheer senselessness of this case outraged people," Murray said.
Karif Ford, 31, Basim Henry, 32, Kevin Roberts, 35, all of Newark, and Hanif Thompson, 29, of neighboring Irvington, were arrested Friday night and Saturday morning. Henry was picked up by an FBI task force at a hotel in Easton, Pa., and the others in their hometowns, police said.
U.S. Attorney Paul Fishman said an FBI task force aimed at curbing carjacking in Essex County helped with the investigation.
"We have an epidemic of carjackings here," Fishman said. "You shouldn't have to worry that wherever you go, someone will put a gun to your head and take your car."
