South Orange Train Station Carjacking, Sexual Assault Gets Newark Man 40 Years

A Newark man convicted of the 2011 carjacking, kidnapping and sexual assault of a 20-year-old woman in South Orange was sentenced to 40 years in New Jersey State Prison, Essex County officials said.

Isaiah Greene, 24, was found guilty last year and sentenced by Superior Court Judge Michael Ravin Friday, according to Acting Essex County Prosecutor Carolyn A. Murray.

The victim was getting into her car at the South Orange train station when she was approached by Greene on Dec. 10, 2011, at about 2 p.m., the prosecutor said. 

Greene gestured as if he had a gun in his pocket and robbed the woman of an iPhone and cash. Greene then got into the passenger seat and forced the woman to start driving.

That’s when Greene began to fondle the woman’s breast and put his hands down her pants while she drove, according the prosecutor’s office. 

Fearing the incident was going to escalate, the woman crashed her car into an Essex County Sheriff’s vehicle in Vailsburg Park in South Orange and jumped out of the car, Murray said.

Greene ran from the victim’s car and was pursued by cops through Vailsburg Park before they lost him. 

The Essex County Homicide Task Force and South Orange police kept up the search, however, and arrested Greene within four hours.

Greene was charged with kidnapping, sexual assault, robbery and carjacking and found guilty after a six-day trial in April 2013. 

Following the jury’s verdict, Assistant Prosecutor Brian Matthews called the victim “extraordinarily brave under the most horrendous circumstances.”

Matthews pushed for a sentence of at least 50 years in state prison, saying Greene has repeatedly demonstrated he was unwilling to live by the rules of society.

Prosecutors noted that as a juvenile, Greene had 15 petitions filed against him, resulting in seven adjudications. As an adult, he had three felony convictions prior to this most recent case, Matthews said, noting Greene committed the carjacking at the age of 22 and has been incarcerated since the incident.

“We pushed for a lengthy sentence because this defendant has demonstrated time and again that he is not fit to live in society. Every time he has been given a chance, he shows he is unable to conform his behavior to the standards of society," Matthews said. “He must be incarcerated to protect the public."