Rutgers Student From Hillsdale Charged With Aggravated Assault After Stabbing

By Carly Baldwin
Staff Writer

HILLSDALE, NJ - One Rutgers University student from Hillsdale was charged with aggravated assault and another from Paramus with attempted murder after a fight broke out at 2 a.m. Friday morning in New Brunswick, police there report.

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.

Police said Pablo Mero-Cabrera, 31, of New Brunswick and Annie Hodges, 24, of Spotswood were assaulted by Michael Young, 24, of Paramus and Joel Tomanelli, 23, of Hillsdale. Both suspects, Young and Tomanelli, are Rutgers students and were apprehended by the officers at the scene, police said.

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.

Young was charged with attempted murder along with weapons offenses, while Tomanelli was charged with aggravated assault, New Brunswick police said.

Hodges suffered minor injuries stemming from punches she received from both suspects, police said.

Police think alcohol and drugs were involved, based on the early investigation.