The Alternative Press

PATERSON, NJ – Police arrested 24-year-old Jerome Wright and his girlfriend in a hotel room outside Philadelphia at about 3 am Wednesday morning, almost 48 hours after he allegedly shot and killed an off-duty  Newark detective outside a Paterson go-go bar.

Authorities said Wright’s use of a credit card he had stolen from another robbery victim moments before the fatal shooting, along with a tip from a member of the public providing them with Wright’s name, helped them track down the fugitive couple.

A security camera at a Foot Locker in downtown Newark recorded Wright making a purchase late Monday morning using the stolen credit card about eight hours after he allegedly Newark Det. Michaell Morgan Jr. near the corner of Straight Street and Getty Avenue, authorities said.

Wright, who police said lived at various addresses in Paterson and Newark, has been charged with felony murder, armed robbery and weapons offenses. He is being held on $1.5 million bail in Pennsylvania. Passaic County Prosecutor Camelia Valdes said authorities expect to charge Wright with murder as well. Bail has not been set for Gladson.

Wright’s girlfriend, 19-year-old Nashali Gadson of Newark, faces the same charges. Police would not say whether she was with Wright in his car while he allegedly committed the two armed robberies early Monday morning, including the one that resulted in Morgan’s death.

Morgan’s wake starts on Thursday and authorities said they were grateful to make the arrest before the services began. “To stand there at the funeral and not have someone in custody is a very tough thing for a law enforcement agency,’’ said Newark Police Director Samuel DeMaio.

Investigators believe Morgan had reached for his off-duty weapon during the robbery when they say Wright shot him. “He was a very heroic young man,’’ said Paterson Deputy Police Chief William Fraher. “He did not have his life taken from him. He gave it.’’

Fraher said the authorities already had gathered strong evidence in the case: “We are very confident in our ability to get a conviction.’’

Police say Wright’s first robbery happened at about 2:45 am Monday at Getty Avenue and Elizabeth Street when he put his gun to the head of a 32-year-old woman, forced her to lie on the ground and robbed her of her cell phone, credit card and cash.

Valdes said surveillance video showed a man matching the description provided by the victim fleeing in a dark four-door vehicle.

About 20 minutes later, Morgan was escorting a dancer from Sunrise Gentlemen’s Club to her car when a man matching the description from the earlier robbery approached them and demanded their money, police said.

“During the robbery, the assailant, later identified as 24 year old Jerome Wright shot Detective Morgan in the torso, fatally wounding him,’’ Valdes said. “After shooting Detective Morgan, Wright continued to rob the female.  He stole her purse, which contained money.  Wright also stole the wallet of Detective Morgan, which contained his police identification, before fleeing on foot.’’

Authorities said surveillance video also showed Wright fleeing the scene in the same dark car.

More than 100 law enforcement officers jumped on the case. Detectives caught their first break when the credit card stolen in the first robbery was used at the Newark sneaker store. “Video surveillance showed the purchaser, and he matched the description of the man who robbed the two females and shot Detective Morgan,’’ Valdes said. “The first robbery victim positively identified the male in the Foot Locker video as the man who robbed her earlier that morning at gun point.”

On November 8, authorities released copies of the Foot Looker photo to the media, identifying Wright and another man as “persons of interest” in the investigation. Sometime on November 8, Paterson police “received information from an individual who indicated he/she knew the identity of the killer,’’ Valdes said.

Authorties would not say whether the tipster had seen the publicized video images, or knew Wright’s identity some other way.

Fraher said Paterson residents don’t get enough credit for their willingness to help authorities make their city safer. “They’re law-abiding people and they have a stake in their community,’’ he said.

It was not clear whether the tipster was in line to receive the $25,000 in reward money that had been offered in the case.

At about 3 am on Wednesday, Wright and Gadson were arrested by Paterson police officers and Passaic County prosecutor’s officers in a hotel outside Philadelphia, Valdes said. Authorities have not yet recovered the gun used to kill Morgan, nor have they found the money stolen from the dancer who was with him.

Police say they are stilling putting together details of where Wright and Gadson were between the Foot Locker purchase on Monday and their arrest on Wednesday.

Fraher said police were still looking to question the other man whose photo was released on Tuesday. They said he had been next to Wright in the Foot Locker, but they are not sure whether he was involved in the crime.

“We are not done,’’ Valdes said.

Mayor Jeffrey Jones said Paterson’s police did a “yeoman’s job” on the investigation and said the quick arrest sent a message. “This sort of heinous crime will not go without a swift response,’’ he said.

Newark Mayor Cory Booker called Wright the “manifestation of evil” - a “two-bit criminal” who killed a hero for “chump change.’’ Booker said Morgan’s mother had told him her son as a young boy used to run to window whenever police sirens passed their home.

“It was his calling from his earliest days to serve his neighbors, his community, his brothers, his sisters, to be a law enforcement officer.’’

Booker said Morgan’s mother had recalled mentioning marriage to her son. “Mom, I’m married to the city of Newark,’’ Morgan told her.

Booker praised the cooperation between police in Passaic and Essex counties on the case. “There was no turf issue, no ego,’’ he said.

Valdes said the agencies involved in the case were the Passaic County Prosecutor’s Office, the Paterson Police Department, the Newark Police Department, the Essex County Prosecutor’s Office, the Passaic County Sheriff’s Department, New Jersey State Police, the United States Marshals Service, and the City of Philadelphia Police Department.

Wright's Paterson roots were unclear. "Depending on the day, depending on the week, depending on the month, he lived in a different part of Paterson,'' Fraher said.