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Keith Hanlon, 41, had been arrested on a domestic violence charge this past Christmas and was almost immediately released by a judge in Hackensack under New Jersey's bail reform law, records show.
Hanlon again assaulted a woman, choking her, at a garden apartment complex on Oak Street in Ridgewood around 8 p.m. Easter Sunday, authorities said.
He then apparently stabbed or slashed his own neck before fleeing, they said.
Village police issued a Be On the Lookout alert for a Chrysler Pacifica minivan driven by Hanlon, who they said was armed with a butcher knife.
Hanlon "stated that he wished to be killed by the police," Paramus Police Chief Kenneth R. Ehrenberg said on Monday.
Minutes later, the vehicle was spotted exiting southbound Route 17 onto eastbound Route 4 by off-duty Paramus Police Officer Michael Mordaga, who was on his way to work, and on-duty Officer Nicholas Tannelli, the chief said.
Hanlon then pulled into the parking lot of the Atrium office building, he said.
The officers approached Hanlon, who appeared irate as he opened the vehicle door, Ehrenberg said.
He then slammed the door shut and drove off, stopping again in a different area of the lot, Ehrenberg said.
Officers quickly deployed spike strips under the minivan's tires to keep him from going any further, the chief said.
They tried talking with Hanlon, who turned up the radio full blast while refusing to reply, Ehrenberg said
At this point, he said, Paramus Lt. Elliot Colon and Officers Sean Casey and Kevin Osback had arrived, joined by officers from Ridgewood, Maywood and the Bergen County Sheriff’s Office.
The standoff continued for about 20 minutes before the officers, seizing an opportunity, grabbed Hanlon, the chief said. Thes struggling suspect was subdued and taken into custody without any injury to police.
Paramus EMS, joined by uniformed officers, took Hanlon to nearby Bergen New Bridge Medical Center, where he remained in custody on Monday.
The butcher knife was recovered and Hanlon was charged in Paramus with resisting arrest, obstruction and weapons possession.
Ridgewood police charged him with aggravated assault -- both by strangulation and with a deadly weapon -- as well as two counts of simple assault and various weapons offenses.
A first appearance will be scheduled in Central Judicial Processing Court in Hackensack once Hanlon is discharged from the medical center.
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