Crime & Safety
Man Pleads Guilty, Drove Truck Into NJ Planned Parenthood: ECPO
A man claimed he was willing to die when he drove a truck into a building, injuring 3 people, including a pregnant woman, prosecutors said.
ESSEX COUNTY, NJ — A man who intentionally crashed a stolen bakery truck into a Planned Parenthood in East Orange on Valentine’s Day in 2018 pleaded guilty to aggravated assault and other offenses on Friday, prosecutors said.
Marckles Alcius, 34, of Lowell, Massachusetts, injured a staff member and two patients – including a pregnant woman – when he drove a truck into the building on Feb. 14, the Essex County Prosecutor’s Office said.
Prosecutor had alleged that Alcius was trying to destroy the building by crashing the stolen bakery truck into the waiting room of the clinic.
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Alcius admitted he was targeting the Planned Parenthood and was willing to die in the attack, prosecutors said.
- See related article: Man Used Truck To 'Attack' NJ Planned Parenthood Clinic
The incident was one of several “mass attacks in public spaces” included in a study by the U.S. Secret Service National Threat Assessment Center last year.
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- See related article: Secret Service Studies Attack On Essex County Planned Parenthood
On Friday, Alcius pleaded guilty to three counts of aggravated assault, causing or risking widespread injury or damage and being in possession of the stolen truck, which he used as a weapon.
Under the terms of the plea agreement, Alcius will be sentenced to a combined 10 years in New Jersey state prison. Under the No Early Release Act, he must serve 85 percent of his sentence before he is eligible for parole, prosecutors said.
Alcius had been charged with terrorism, a first-degree offense which carries 30-year sentence. As part of the plea agreement, that charge will be dismissed, prosecutors said.
Sentencing is scheduled for Jan. 7, 2021.
It is anticipated Alcius, who was in the country legally, will face deportation to Haiti after he serves his sentence, prosecutors said.
Acting Essex County Prosecutor Theodore Stephens thanked Planned Parenthood of Metro New Jersey for assisting with the investigation.
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