Former Hoboken Cop Attacks Family With Baseball Bat In Bergen County: Police

BERGENFIELD, NJ — A former Hoboken police officer was arrested Tuesday after he attacked a Bergen County man with a baseball bat, police said.

Nikola Lulaj, 52, of Seaside Heights, was charged with home invasion and aggravated assault.

Police responded just before 6 p.m. to Phelps Avenue in Bergenfield on a report of an attack involving a bat, they said.

Police found a group of men in the street having a dispute. Several of them had sustained minor injuries, police said, and two children in the area also had minor injuries.

The Bergenfield Ambulance Corps responded to the scene to treat them. They all refused medical attention.

Police determined that Lulaj had kicked in the front door of the victim's home in an attempt to "confront him over an ongoing issue."

The victim, a 52-year-old Bergenfield man, got a baseball bat to protect himself and his children, police said.

The homeowner then "attempted to retreat into his residence and shield his children," police said, but Lulaj was able to grab the bat.

Then, Lulaj "proceeded to follow the victim, smashing open the front door and window, gaining entry to the residence" and causing lacerations to the man and his kids in the process, police said.

Lulaj was charged with:

• Burglary-home invasion
• Aggravated assault
• Criminal mischief
• Unlawful possession of a weapon
• Possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose
• Endangering another person

Lulaj was taken to the Bergen County Corrections and Rehabilitation Center to await an appearance in Central Judicial Processing Court, police said.

In 2019, Lulaj was sentenced to five years in jail for fraudulently collecting $187,000 in Superstorm Sandy relief funds, according to the New Jersey Attorney General's Office. He gave up his police job in Hoboken after being convicted in a trial earlier that year.

Dumont and Cresskill police also responded to the incident on Tuesday.