Police say illegal immigrant slashed cab driver in Ramsey to duck $45 fare

YOU READ IT HERE FIRST: A Salvadoran national who lives in Ramsey slashed a cab driver’s hand and fled, stiffing him for $45 before dawn this morning, then was tracked to his home soon after by a Bergen County Sheriff’s K-9 unit, authorities said.

Jerry DeMarco

03/23/2015 5:21 p.m.

Jose Manuel Hernandez Ascencio, 18, slashed the driver at Erie Plaza at 12:10 a.m. with a red-handled knife after claiming that he didn’t have enough money to pay the fare, Police Chief Bryan Gurney told CLIFFVIEW PILOT.

The Ramsey Ambulance Corps tended to the driver, who declined hospitalization, Gurney said.

The K-9 unit, meanwhile, led officers straight to a North Central Avenue address, where Ascencio answered the door, he said.

“Also in plain view was a red-handled knife,” the chief said.

The driver then identified Ascencio, who was taken into custody.

He was being held on $50,000 bail in the Bergen County Jail, charged with robbery, aggravated assault with a weapon and two weapons possession counts. An April 14 Municipal Court hearing was scheduled.

The INS also issued a detainer for deportation proceedings once the case is resolved.

MUGSHOT: Courtesy RAMSEY PD

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