Bergen County Prosecutor Mark Musella announced the arrests of LUIS VILLAO-HARO (DOB: 10/23/1999) and ABDUL JIMENEZ-VERA (DOB: 9/22/2001), both of 642 Faile Street, Bronx, NY on charges related to a shooting in Fort Lee, NJ. The arrest is the result of an investigation conducted by the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office under the direction of Acting Chief of Detectives Matthew Finck and the Fort Lee Police Department under the direction of Chief Matthew Hintze.
On Friday, December 8, 2023, at approximately 5:06 pm, officers from the Fort Lee Police Department responded to Bridle Way in Fort Lee on the report of a possible shooting. Detectives from the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office Special Investigations Squad also responded. A joint investigation determined that two unknown suspects wearing dark-colored clothing arrived outside the victim’s residence on a motorcycle, brandished a firearm, and opened fire on the victim’s unoccupied, parked vehicle. With the assistance of the Bergen County Sheriff’s Department Bureau of Criminal Investigation, ballistic evidence was recovered from the scene.
A two-months-long investigation revealed that LUIS VILLAO-HARO and ABDUL JIMENEZ-VERA were the parties responsible for the shooting. On Thursday, February 22, 2024, detectives of the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office and the Fort Lee Police Department arrested VILLAO-HARO and JIMENEZ-VERA at their residence in New York City with the assistance of the Federal Bureau of Investigation NY Safe Streets Task Force and the New York City Police Department.
LUIS VILLAO-HARO and ABDUL JIMENEZ-VERA were each charged with second-degree unlawful possession of a weapon (handgun), N.J.S.A. 2C:39-5(b)(1); second-degree possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose, N.J.S.A. 2C: 39-4(a)(1); and third-degree criminal mischief, N.J.S.A. 2C:17-3(a)(1).
Prosecutor Musella states that the charges are merely accusations, and that the defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. Prosecutor Musella would like to thank the Fort Lee Police Department, the Bergen County Sheriff’s Department, the Tenafly Police Department, the Port Authority Police Department, the New York City Police Department, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (NY) for their assistance with the investigation.
