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Emiliano Cotzalo-Santiago, 24, was living in Palisades Park and working on a construction site in Closter when he began walking down the middle of Cedar Lane, obstructing traffic, Police Capt. Vincent Aiello said.
This prompted calls to police.
Cotzal-Santiago “attacked the first officer that he came in contact with by punching him in the face,” the captain said.
A second officer sustained cuts on his hand as they attempted to handcuff him, Aiello noted.
Cotzal-Santiago -- crossed the U.S. border illegally in Texas -- then refused to be fingerprinted at police headquarters, the captain said.He was charged with a host of offenses, including three counts each of aggravated assault on police and resisting arrest, as well as disorderly conduct and a charge stemming from the fingerprint refusal, records show.
Cotzal-Santiago was initially sent to New Bridge Medical Center in Paramus for a psychological.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents then took him into custody.
Cotzal-Santiago will be brought before an immigration judge in Newark who will decide whether to deport him immediately or have him prosecuted locally first.
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