Crime & Safety
Carteret Man Who Tried To Break Up Neighbors' Fight Ends Up Stabbed
This happened April 5 and the victim is still in the hospital, said police. However, the suspect was apprehended Thursday in Camden.
CARTERET, NJ — A man who tried to break up a domestic argument between his neighbors ended up being stabbed multiple times in the shoulders and head earlier this month in Carteret, said a Carteret town spokesman.
And after a statewide manhunt, the alleged perpetrator was located Thursday by U.S. Marshals and Carteret Police at a restaurant in Camden, where he was taken into police custody.
The stabbing happened at 7:18 p.m. on April 5: A 36-year-old man who lives on Essex Street called 911 and police found him at his home with severe bleeding from a laceration on his shoulder as well as a puncture wound to his head.
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He told police he tried to intervene in a domestic dispute involving his neighbors. Witnesses said the suspect, Manuel Rodriguez of Carteret, threatened to kill the victim and began a physical altercation with him.
Rodriguez then slashed and stabbed the victim with a folding knife, said Carteret Police. He then tried to convince witnesses not to call the police and subsequently fled on foot prior to police arrival.
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The man who had been stabbed was taken to Newark University Hospital. His injuries were so serious that he remains hospitalized as of April 22, three weeks later.
Carteret Police obtained an arrest warrant Rodriguez, charging him with aggravated assault, weapons possession and child endangerment.
“Information was not released to the public at the time of the warrant being issued due to concern the suspect was a flight risk who had already left town and could potentially flee the country,” said Carteret Police Chief Dennis McFadden. “The Carteret Police Department along with federal agencies conducted a thorough investigation, which produced sufficient evidence to locate and arrest the suspect.”
On Thursday, the Carteret Police Department and U.S. Marshals Service tracked the suspect to a restaurant in Camden and placed him under arrest. Rodriguez is currently being housed in the Middlesex County Adult Corrections Center.
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