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Stabbing at popular Lyndhurst nightclub leads to indictment against Essex County man

ONLY ON CVP: A grand jury returned attempted murder and weapons charges against a 21-year-old East Orange man accused of stabbing a fellow patron with a box cutter at a packed Lyndhurst nightclub.

Photo Credit: Courtesy LYNDHURST PD

Malik Taylor (above) posted $200,000 bail a week ago, nearly two months after the stabbing at Riva Blue on Riverside Avenue near Kings Court.

Taylor turned himself in to Lyndhurst police after Detective Sgts. John Mazure and John Kerner and Detective Vincent Auteri identified him as their lone suspect by reviewing club surveillance footage and interviewing several witnesses.

The victim — 21-year-old Eric Burrell of South Orange — is recoving from his injuries, police said.

Burrell was stabbed twice in the chest — one of which punctured a lung — and once just beneath his arm.

The fairly new nightclub/restaurant was packed with 350 or so attendees for an event called “Live Love Sundays,” featuring hip-hop performers and deejays, when the men got into a fight around 2 a.m. Aug. 11.

Responding officers found Burrell on the second floor of the club, “covered in a great deal of blood” and going in and out of consciousness, Capt. John Valente told CLIFFVIEW PILOT at the time.

Lyndhurst EMS workers took him to University Hospital.

Police discovered fresh blood next to a car in the parking lot, where they believe the fight occurred. The victim apparently then made his way back inside seeking help, Valente said.

Nutley Mayor Alphonse Petracco opened Riva Blue with his brother in April.
IMAGES: Courtesy LYNDHURST PD

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