Spotswood Woman Attacked in New Brunswick Fight: Police

New Brunswick, NJ - A Spotswood woman was beaten during a 2 a.m. fight Friday in New Brunswick, which involved two current students at Rutgers University, and may have been over drugs and alcohol, police said.

Annie Hodges, 24, of Spotswood, and Pablo Mero-Cabrera, 31, of New Brunswick, were assaulted by two current RU students, Michael Young, 24, of Paramus and Joel Tomanelli, 23, of Hillsdale, police charge.

At approximately 2:00 a.m. Friday, New Brunswick police responded to a call about a fight outside the Old Bay Restaurant, the New Orleans-esque restaurant and bar at Church and Neilson streets in downtown New Brunswick.

Mero-Cabrera was stabbed multiple times in the head and neck, and is listed in stable condition at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital. His injuries do not appear to be life-threatening at this time. The Spotswood woman, Hodges, suffered minor injuries stemming from punches she received from both suspects, police said.

The two alleged assailants were arrested at the scene; Young was charged with attempted murder along with weapons offenses, while Tomanelli was charged with aggravated assault, New Brunswick police said. They think the group was fighting over alcohol and drugs, based on the early investigation.

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