Arrest Made In Mugging Of Sharpe James

The man suspected of mugging the former mayor of Newark asked two police officers for help before he got arrested.

Twenty-year-old Alhaseez Williams is accused of putting former Newark Mayor Sharpe James in a chokehold and stealing a gold necklace in Newark on Thursday. James wasn't injured.

Port Authority spokesman Steve Coleman says the suspect approached police at a train station in New York City early Friday and asked to ride the commuter train for free to meet his parole officer.

Coleman says police learned the man was wanted and turned him over to Newark police.

Coleman says the suspect's girlfriend had James' necklace.

James ran Newark for more than 20 years before he was convicted in a federal corruption trial and sent to prison.