Four Arrested in Short Hills Mall Carjacking of Toms River Native

Four people have been arrested in connection with last weekend's fatal carjacking at The Mall at Short Hills, the Essex County Prosecutor's Office said.

According to Katherine Carter, a spokeswoman for the prosecutor, authorities will announce the arrests at a 9 a.m. press conference Saturday in Newark.

No further details were immediately available regarding the arrests.

Dustin Friedland, 30, was shot in the head when he and his wife returned to their SUV shortly after 9 p.m. last Sunday after an evening of Christmas shopping with his wife. Friedland was pronounced dead at 11:45 p.m. that night at Morristown Medical Center. His wife, Jamie, who was uninjured, was also transported to the hospital, according to the Essex County Prosecutor.

Investigators examined mall tapes and searched behind a vacant, boarded-up house on Renner Avenue in Newark where the SUV was found, according to NJ.com. 

Taubman Co., which owns the mall, offered a $20,000 reward Tuesday for the capture and conviction of the carjackers, according to NJ.com. The reward was added to the initial $10,000 offering from the Essex County CrimeStoppers Program. The program added an additional $10,000 on Tuesday, while the Morris County Crime Stoppers provided an additional $1,000, bringing the total reward to $41,000.

Services for Friedland, an avid runner from Hoboken, were held Wednesday in South Jersey.