Newark police investigate 4 robberies at city bus stops, getaway car recovered

NEWARK (WABC) -- A series of robberies Monday morning, sometimes violent, happened in Newark and one of those attacks was caught on video.

There were at least four reported robberies over several hours. Police are still trying to confirm that the robberies were related and were perpetrated by the same people.

As of Monday afternoon, police say they recovered the vehicle they believe the suspects were using in the robberies.

"He was bloody, it was all down his arms, his face, all down his shirt and he was saying, 'They robbed me, they robbed me,'" said Sharon Davis, the victim's sister-in-law.

He was robbed at a bus stop with a baseball bat. In the surveillance video, you can see four suspects surround a 59-year-old man like animals of prey, one clocking him square in the forehead with the bat.

12 hours after getting smashed in the head with a baseball bat believe it or not Eric Cooper is up and walking.

"It wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be. Thank God that he didn't knock me out. To be honest with you it didn't even hurt, but I just felt blood going into my mouth, so I knew I was in trouble," said Eric Cooper, the victim.

The exclusive surveillance video obtained by Eyewitness News, shows the 58-year-old standing at a bus stop on the corner of Chancellor and Maple avenues around 5:30 a.m. Monday when a light-colored sedan drives by.

"I saw them riding by and I thought they looked like they wanted trouble. And when I turned the corner and saw them walk back, I knew it was trouble because I saw the guy with the baseball bat," Cooper said.

The men parked around the corner, walked down the street and surrounded Cooper. That's when a man in the gray hoodie hit Cooper with a baseball bat and took his money.

"When I saw him cross the street, I went to go that way, and the guy said, 'If you run, we'll shoot you,' so I said, 'Oh my God, here man, just take it,'" Cooper said.

Newark Police say this is one of four robberies Monday, by a group of men who they say were arrested last week for committing the same style robbery, but have been released pending trial.

"They scared me straight, they really did," Cooper said.

"It was four kids, got $10, and they didn't have to hurt him because he was giving it up," Davis said.

Police recovered the getaway vehicle on Monday afternoon, but the suspects remain on the loose.

The investigation is active and on-going. Police ask that anyone with information about this or any other crimes call the Department's 24-hour CrimeStoppers anonymous tip line at 877 NWK-TIPS (877 695-8477) or NWK-GUNS (877 695-4867).