Crime, Regional Interest

Prosecutor: Philadelphia Man Convicted in 2016 Robbery of At&T Store

A Philadelphia man was convicted on Thursday on charges in connection with the 2016 robbery of an Ocean Township AT&T store, Monmouth County Prosecutor Christopher J. Gramiccioni announced.

Anthony Clark, 42, of Philadelphia, PA, was convicted following a five-week trial on charges of: first-degree armed robbery, third-degree criminal restraint, second-degree possession of a handgun for an unlawful purpose, second-degree theft of movable property, and third-degree receiving stolen property.

Due to his previous criminal convictions, Clark is facing a sentence of up to life in prison when he returns for sentencing before Monmouth County Superior Court Judge Ellen Torregrossa-O’Connor on April 3, 2020.

At trial it was revealed that on Sept. 6, 2016, Clark and four co-conspirators traveled from Philadelphia to Ocean Township in a stolen motor vehicle with plans to rob the AT&T store located on Route 35.

Clark, posing as a customer, entered the store first and goaded a store employee into the far corner of the store under the guise of purchasing a cellphone. Shortly thereafter, three of his co-conspirators entered the store and forced the two store employees into a back inventory room at gunpoint.

The store employees were forced to their knees, their hans and feet bound with zip ties. While his co-conspirators proceed to zip tie the staff members at gunpoint, Clark kept watch in the front of the store while communicating with another co-conspirator who was parked across the highway.

Clark proceeded to fill numerous laundry bags with store merchandise, which were eventually loaded into the stolen motor vehicle. Clark and his co-conspirators got away with more than $130,000 worth of store merchandise. 

— Edited press release from the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office