An East Orange man was sentenced to 33 year in prison for the robbery of a woman as she was getting out of her car in Elizabeth two years ago.
Diken Michelle, 30, of East Orange, was sentenced to 33 years in prison for robbing a woman as she stepped out of her car in 2014. (Union County Prosecutor's Office) ELIZABETH -- A Superior Court judge ordered consecutive prison sentences for Essex County man who was convicted of robbery after he held up a woman in Elizabeth two years ago.
Superior Court Scott J. Moynihan last week sentenced Diken Michelle, 30, of East Orange, to a total of 33 years in prison, and ordered that he serve at 85 percent of the term before being eligible for parole, authorities said.
The sentence came two years to the month after Michelle robbed a woman getting out of her car on Bayway Avenue in the city, acting Union County Prosecutor Grace Park said.
As the woman was gathering items in the car, Michelle approached her, pulled out a gun and demanded the property, said Union County assistant prosecutors Armando Suarez and Michael D'Agostino, who tried the case.
Michelle fled with the woman's purse, cell phone, makeup case, a duffel bag and car keys, the prosecutors said. They said a bystander who witnessed the crime then approached the victim and called 911.
City police used an app and located the cell phone on the 300 block of South Front Street, where they found Michelle and arrested him, authorities said.
They said the victim identified Michelle at the robbery, and the following day, officers searched the area around the robbery and found a handgun matching the description of the weapon used in the robbery.
Last October, a jury found Michelle guilty of first-degree robbery and of a second-degree charge of being prohibited from having a firearm because of prior convictions.
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