New Jersey man charged in Slingerlands robbery

BETHLEHEM — Majid Godje, 24, of Jersey City, was arrested on April 15 for a robbery last December in a Slingerlands parking lot.

Bethlehem Police traveled to New Jersey to make the arrest and were helped in the investigation by the United States Marshal Task Force in New York and New Jersey.

Godje, along with Ronaldo Alcazar, arranged a Facebook Marketplace meeting to purchase a necklace, according to an April 16 release from Bethlehem Police.

In January, after Bethlehem Police with the help of federal marshals arrested Alcazar, 25, in New York City, a release from Bethlehem Police said events unfolded this way:

On the morning of Dec. 27, a woman called 9-1-1, reporting an armed robbery in progress in the parking lot of Plug Power at 125 Vista Blvd. in Slingerlands. Through a Facebook marketplace, the victim had arranged to meet in the parking lot to sell jewelry but he was instead confronted by two men — one with a handgun — who stole his jewelry and car keys before fleeing the scene in a minivan.

The Bethlehem Police at the time reminded people that there is a safe exchange location for e-commerce on the east side of the Bethlehem Town Hall at 447 Delaware Ave. in Delmar, which is monitored by surveillance video and police.

This week, Bethlehem Police report that Godje has been charged with seven felonies: first-degree robbery, first-degree criminal use of a firearm, second-degree robbery, second -degree criminal possession of a weapon, third-degree grand larceny, fourth-degree conspiracy, and first-degree unlawful imprisonment.

He was also charged with second-degree menacing, a misdemeanor.

Godje was arraigned by Judge Ryan Donovan in Bethlehem Town Court and was remanded to Albany County’s jail with no bail. A return date was set for May 7 at 4 p.m. in Bethlehem Town Court.

— Melissa Hale-Spencer

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