NEW YORK (1010 WINS/WCBS 880) – Two men were sentenced to prison for robbing and shooting taxi drivers in New Jersey last year, prosecutors announced on Tuesday.
Walter Williams-Lang, 22, called a taxi using his phone for a morning ride from Linden to Elizabeth on May 14, 2022. Williams-Land along with Naeem Jackson, 24, got into the taxi with masks and in dark-colored clothing, according to surveillance footage.
They were armed with a P80 semiautomatic handgun, a 'ghost gun' assembled with untraceable parts, including one from an unknown manufacturer, violating federal law, officials told NJ.com.
Williams-Lang pointed the gun at the driver, demanding money. Jackson then took the gun from Williams-Lang and pistol-whipped the driver before shooting him in the arm.
The taxi driver survived the attack.
After the shooting, both men tried to run away from the scene but were caught by police following a brief chase.
Jackson later confessed to police that he had thrown the weapon in a parking deck trash can in Elizabeth. This led officers to find the loaded gun, which contained a single 9mm bullet.
The U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms conducted an examination of the weapon and identified it as a ghost gun with a part manufactured by a company based in Nevada.
Jackson also confessed to a similar crime on May 5, 2022, where he used a loaded gun to carjack a taxi driver, who he also robbed of cash, a cellphone and a wallet.
Williams-Lang was sentenced to seven years and three months in prison, while Jackson was sentenced to eight years and seven months in prison on Nov, 29, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Philip R. Sellinger announced.
