The victim, Adil Boutahli, was paralyzed as a result of being shot four times.
CAMDEN -- Two city men were indicted Thursday for their role in a string of armed robberies at 7-Eleven convenience stores across New Jersey, including one that left a Gloucester County man paralyzed.
Charles L. Walls, 33, and Anthony T. Ervin, 25, are charged with eight counts of first-degree robbery as well as a slew of weapons offenses. They are also facing an attempted murder charge as a result of a Jan. 10, 2014 armed robbery in Pennsauken where clerk Adil Boutahli -- who is now a nationally-ranked wheelchair tennis player -- was shot four times.
"We charge that these two men heartlessly gunned down a young store clerk in Pennsauken and continued to terrorize 7-Eleven clerks for the next five months in armed robberies at seven more stores," Acting Attorney Genera Robert Lougy said in a press release.
According to the Camden County Prosecutor's Office, the two pulled off seven other armed robberies at 7-Eleven stores between April 27 and June 13 2014. Two in Hamilton Township occurred on the same day, authorities said, adding that a third suspect was involved in those, although he was yet to be identified.
Victim now a nationally-ranked athlete
Authorities said that the duo devised similar methods of robbery for each incident: Driving to the scene in the same vehicle; striking in the early morning hours; wearing masks, hooded sweatshirts and gloves; one man holding the clerk at gunpoint while the other stole cash and cigarettes.
Walls was arrested in June 2014 at his apartment, where authorities say evidence linking him to the crimes was found, following a multi-agency investigation coordinated by the Camden County Prosecutor's Office. Ervin was arrested on Oct. 8, 2014 following a joint investigation involving police departments from across South Jersey.
The 34-count indictment was handed up to Mercer County Superior Court. The case was then assigned to Camden County, where the two men -- both still behind bars on $1 million bail -- still await a date for arraignment.
"The violent crime spree allegedly perpetrated by Walls and Ervin spanned seven municipalities and three counties, but by joining forces, the law enforcement agencies in these jurisdictions quickly caught the defendants in their dragnet," said Elie Honig, director of the state Division of Criminal Justice. "This is an excellent example of sharing intelligence and resources to achieve results."
Greg Adomaitis may be reached at gadomaitis@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @GregAdomaitis. Find NJ.com on Facebook.