Newark Man Pleads Guilty to Armed Robbery of Smashburger

By Paul Milo

A Newark man Thursday admitted he took part in more than a dozen armed robberies at pharmacies, sandwich shops and other small businesses throughout North Jersey, US Attorney Paul Fishman said.

Bobby Dawson, 30, also pleaded guilty to committing an armed carjacking during a six-month crime spree that began in late 2012.

Dawson faces up to life in prison and hundreds of thousands in dollars in fines when he’s sentenced in March 2014.

In many of the robberies, employees were restrained with zip ties or duct tape at gunpoint before Dawson and an accomplice  cleaned out the cash register.

In a few cases, Fishman said, the violence escalated. On April 1, Dawson forced a clerk to hit the ground by firing a .380-caliber handgun during the robbery of the MS&K Confectionary in Maplewood. On April 24, Dawson pistol-whipped the employee of a Krauszer’s store in West Orange.

Dawson also struck half a dozen times in Newark -- including twice at Newark Community Pharmacy -- as well as in Linden and Kearny.