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Damian Padilla, 42, was captured by Passaic County sheriff’s officers moments after a 35-year-old victim flagged down city police and told them he’d been stabbed on Fair Street shortly before 4 a.m. Tuesday, May 16.
Also assaulted was a 41-year-old woman found around the corner with a slash wound on her left leg, responders said.
Both victims were treated at St. Joseph’s University Medical Center, Passaic County Prosecutor Camelia M. Valdes and Paterson Police Department Officer-In-Charge Isa Abbassi said in a joint announcement.
Sheriff’s deputies had Padilla in custody a short time later, they said.
“Upon further investigation, it was determined that prior to and during the incident, Damian Padilla made several anti-gay slurs against the male victim while proceeding to stab him multiple times,” Valdes and Abbassi said in their statement.
Padilla was charged with first-degree bias intimidation, as well as aggravated assault and weapons offenses.
Based on the seriousness of the charges, a Central Judicial Processing Court judge in Paterson ordered on Wednesday that Padilla remain held in the Bergen County Jail pending trial.
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Kyle Mazza/UNF News took the photos and contributed to this story.
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