Hackensack police responded at approximately 3 p.m. on Tuesday, March 24, to the area of Banta Place and State Street on a report of an injured person, according to Bergen County Prosecutor Mark Musella.
Responding officers found a 16-year-old with stab wounds and learned that the suspects had fled the scene prior to their arrival. The teen was transported to Hackensack University Medical Center in stable condition, the prosecutor said.
A joint investigation by the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office and Hackensack Police revealed the incident began during an altercation at Central Avenue and Union Street involving the 16-year-old juvenile, Joaquin Morris Jr., 18, of Hackensack, and another juvenile, according to prosecutors.
During the altercation, the 16-year-old, later identified as the stabbing victim, produced a large machete and swung it multiple times at Morris, authorities said.
At the same time, Morris produced a knife and swung it multiple times, stabbing the teen in the torso, Musella said.
The injured juvenile was later found by first responders at Banta Place and State Street after Morris and the other juvenile fled, according to prosecutors.
As a result of the investigation, the 16-year-old juvenile was charged on Wednesday, March 25, with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose, and possession of a weapon, authorities said. After being released from the hospital on Friday, March 27, he was placed in the Bergen County Juvenile Detention Facility pending further court action.
Morris was arrested on Friday, March 27, in Hackensack and charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose, and possession of a weapon. He was remanded to the Bergen County Jail pending his first appearance in Bergen County Superior Court in Hackensack, officials said.
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