Teaneck police responded to a local home on Monday, May 18 at approximately 10:50 p.m. where an argument involving Miguel Mejia and a girl under the age of 18 had turned physical, according to charging documents obtained by Daily Voice.
The girl had a vertical laceration to the right side of her face with noticeable swelling, the complaint says. The girl was taken to a hospital where she disclosed that Mejia had strangled her and struck her in the face multiple times, according to the charging document.
In addition to lacerations and swelling on her face, the girl also had bruising on her neck, consistent with allegations that Mejia had strangled her.
A joint investigation by the prosecutor’s office and Teaneck police found that Mejia "assaulted and endangered" a juvenile in Teaneck, Bergen County Prosecutor Musella said. Detectives also alleged Mejia refused to provide a DNA sample after he was taken into custody, despite being legally required to do so.
Mejia was charged with second-degree aggravated assault, second-degree endangering the welfare of a child, fourth-degree refusal to submit to DNA collection, and fourth-degree child abuse, prosecutors said. He was remanded to the Bergen County Jail pending a first appearance in Bergen County Superior Court in Hackensack. The prosecutor thanked the Teaneck Police Department for assisting in the investigation.
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