Acquaintance allegedly lured Monmouth armed-robbery victim into trap

One of two suspected armed thieves in Monmouth's Ocean Township knew the victim, according to local police.

Royal Moore, 20, and a 17-year-old girl are accused of luring the Asbury Park 22-year-old to the Middlebrook Apartments on the evening of January 10, then holding him up at gunpoint. Police say the teen and the victim are acquainted.

The Asbury Park man told police that when he arrived, an individual pulled out what appeared to be a dark handgun, took his backpack, cell phone, and cash, and ran. The vicitm called 911 from a relative's nearby apartment, police said.

Equipped with a detailed description and a Deal Police K-9 team, officers searching the vicinity came up empty. Detectives Michael Legg, Jesse Orbach and Greg Martone discovered that the teen was an acquaintance, police said.

Moore was held in the Monmouth County Correcitional Institution in Freehold on counts of robbery, possession of a handgun, and possession of a handgun for an ulawful purpose. The girl was charged with conspiracy to commit robbery and released to her mother.

Charges are accusations. Defendants are presumed innocent unless, and until, found guilty in a court of law.