Hakim Clark
An Atlantic City man who was armed and combative when he was arrested as a fugitive pleaded guilty Tuesday.
Hakim Clark, 34, was able to wrap up four separate cases under the agreement, including having a shank inside the Atlantic County Justice Facility.
He faces six years with five years and a month of parole ineligibility under the No Early Release Act. A separate sentence calls for eight years with five years of parole ineligibility, but that is to run concurrent to the other term.
Clark has been jailed since his arrest March 8, 2024, when Officer La'Tray Butcher recognized him as having two active warrants.
Butcher stopped Clark, who became combative and gave false information about his identity, police said at the time. He was in possession of a loaded gun reported stolen out of North Carolina, along with 10 Ecstasy pills.
Clark pleaded guilty to second-degree aggravated assault, two counts of second-degree possession of a weapon by a certain person and fourth-degree obstruction in that case, which carries the NERA sentencing.
Clark also admitted to shooting a gun in the area of Proud Mary's bar at Sovereign and Fairmount avenues 10 days before his arrest.
ShotSpotter and a 911 call brought police to the scene Feb. 25, 2024,
Surveillance footage later would show Clark going in and out of the bar several times and playing pool before the shooting.
He also is seen running south on Sovereign Avenue, pulling his right arm out of his vest pocket and then raising his right arm. That is followed by a flash consistent with gunfire.
No one was injured, but several people are seen ducking down and taking cover.
An investigation later determined the gun Clark has at the time of his arrest was the one used that night.
Clark additionally pleaded guilty to third- degree possession with the intent to distribute cocaine from a Jan. 21, 2021, case.
At that time, the Atlantic City Police Department's Special Investigation Section found cocaine, a small digital scale, more than $1,900 and two rounds of ball ammunition after a warranted search of an apartment at 145 S. Ocean Ave. as part of an investigation into reported drug dealing in that area.
Clark also pleaded guilty to fourth-degree unlawful possession of a weapon after he was found with a shank inside the jail.
He will remain in the Atlantic County jail until his sentencing, which is scheduled for June 9.
