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Peter A. Giovenco III, 32, wasn't on the loose for long.
Detective Brian Kropp led an investigation that identified Giovenco as the man who stabbed the visiting victim during an argument around 11:15 p.m. Wednesday at the Stagecoach Motel on westbound Route 46.
The victim, who was stabbed once in the left side of the head, as well as in the left shoulder blade, lost a large amount of blood and required emergency surgery at Hackensack University Medical Center, Detective James Donatello said.
Responding officers who found blood in the parking lot and the lobby closed the motel for several hours as the Bergen County Sheriff's Bureau of Criminal Identification collected evidence, he said.
A Passaic County sheriff's officer seized Giovenco late Friday morning in Paterson's 4th Ward, Donatello said.
The 5-foot-10-inch, 160-pound Giovenco has prior offenses, records show.
Fair Lawn police busted him on receiving stolen property and heroin-related charges in February. A year earlier, the picked him up on a shoplifting charge and said they found him and a companion carrying crack and oxycodone.
Two years ago, Paramus police arrested Giovenco on a stolen property charge. He also has priors out of Clifton and Montclair, among other jurisdictions, records show.
Giovenco remained held in the Bergen County Jail pending a first Central Judicial Processing Court appearance.
The victim, meanwhile, was recovering from his injuries.
MUGSHOT: Courtesy SOUTH HACKENSACK PD
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