Anthony Sims in a photo released by police in 2007. (Click to enlarge)

By JOHN T. WARD

Red Bank police have a suspect in custody for last week’s shooting of a man as he sat in a car parked on Willow Street – and the alleged shooter is well-known hereabouts.

Anthony Sims, 25, who pleaded guilty in 2010 to shooting two men at the at the Montgomery Terrace public housing apartments on the borough’s West Side three years earlier, was arrested Monday and charged in the April 9 shooting, Police Chief Darren McConnell tells redbankgreen.

The victim, Perry Veney, 28, was shot at least six times, though doctors have been unable to give authorities an exact number, McConnell said. Veney is in critical but stable condition at Jersey Shore Medical Center in Neptune, according to the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s office.

Sims was released from prison in January, five and a half years after he was sentenced to seven years for shooting two  brothers in Red Bank in November, 2007.

One of his victims, 24-year-old Brandon Graves, was said to have been left paralyzed and wheelchair-bound as a result of the shooting. His brother, Anthony Graves, lost a finger in the incident, which court testimony indicated followed a dispute about Sims’ mother, who lived in the complex.

After the shooting, Sims went on the run. He was captured by Highlands police in February, 2008.

Sims pleaded guilty to two counts of second-degree attempted passion provocation manslaughter and a related gun possession charge.

Under the sentence imposed by Superior Court Richard W. English, Sims was credited with two years spent in jail prior to sentencing and was to be eligible for parole in a little less than six years, according to reports at the time of sentencing.

In the latest case, McConnell said the shooter is alleged to have walked up to the car in which Veney was seated behind the wheel and opened fire, with few if any words exchanged, McConnell said. The shooting, in a residential area just off Drs. James Parker Boulevard, occurred at about 6;45 p.m.

The relationship between Sims and Veney was unknown, though both men have in the past lived in Red Bank, McConnell said. Sims lives in Long Branch; Veney’s latest address was not immediately available.

Police have no clear motive for the shooting, McConnell said.

Sims was arrested without incident in Neptune, McConnell said. The weapon used in the shooting has not been recovered, he said.

As of 7:30 p.m. Monday, Sims was still in the borough lockup, and bail had been set at $1.1 million on charges of attempted murder and multiple weapons charges, McConnell said.

The case was worked by Investigator Robert Campanella of RBPD and Detective Brian Weisbrot of the prosecutor’s office, McConnell said.