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The attack landed the victim in Englewood Medical Center in critical condition, with eight broken bones in his face and an eye so damaged that he might lose sight in it, Detective Capt. Timothy Torell told CLIFFVIEW PILOT this afternoon.
“The beating was so severe that we put the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office Homicide Squad on standby, based on what our officers saw and what the medical staff told us,” Torell said.
The victim, who had a cellphone and cash taken, still managed to describe his assailants for police.
The attack occurred around 6:30 p.m. Thursday on a stretch of railroad tracks that runs between Demarest and Hamilton avenues in the City’s 3rd Ward and is commonly used as a shortcut by pedestrians.
By midnight, police had identified three suspects, Torell said. Within a few hours, two were in custody, he said. The third was arrested at 12:30 p.m. Friday.
Detective Sgt. Chris Kedersha, along with Detectives Chris Quirk and Mike Hargrave, arrested 18-year-old Gonzalo Eduardo Montoya and Tyrell Peterson, 23, both city residents, and charged them with first-degree robbery and second-degree aggravated assault.
Detectives Barry Miller and Zellvon Lucas later caught up with 20-year-old Terryn Butler, a former Englewood resident, at his East Orange home, Torell said.
A later search of his home turned up the victim’s stolen cellphone. Butler was taken to Englewood, where he was charged with the same offenses as Montoya and Peterson.
All three were being held on $300,000 each in the Bergen County Jail.
The victim, meanwhile, remained hospitalized and could lose sight in the injured eye, Torell said.
“This was an absolutely brutal attack,” the captain said. “The victim clearly did not know his attackers and is extremely lucky to be alive at this point. This is a hard-working guy who did nothing to warrant what happened to him.”
Anyone with information about the beating is asked to call Englewood police: (201) 568-4875. All calls will remain confidential, Torell said.
MUGSHOTS: Courtesy ENGLEWOOD PD
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