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The 16-year-old assailant was still carrying the bloody knife when two Bogota police officers nabbed him following the apparently random Halloween night attack on Cedar Lane shortly before 9 p.m., Teaneck Police Chief Andrew McGurr said.
The victim was stabbed in the buttocks and also suffered a deep cut on his face in the attack on Garrison Avenue, around the corner from the Seasons Express kosher grocery on Cedar Lane, the chief said early Wednesday, Nov. 1.
The teen then went into the store for help, he said.
"No motive, no arguments, no confrontation," a law enforcement source told Daily Voice. "It's straight out of a horror movie."
The Teaneck Volunteer Ambulance Corps rushed the victim to Hackensack University Medical Center with injuries that weren't considered life-threatening, McGurr said.
Witnesses said the assailant was wearing a "killer clown" mask."
Officers relayed details of the incident and a description of the suspect to surrounding agencies," the chief said.
A short time later, he said, Bogota Police Sgt. Geoffrey Cole and Officer Luis Duenas spotted the suspect near the intersection of Linden Avenue and West Grove Street in their town and took him into custody.
McGurr said he was carrying a utility knife "which was partially covered in blood."
The boy was issued a delinquency complaint charging him with aggravated assault, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose. He was then sent to the Bergen County Juvenile Detention Center in Teterboro.
A hearing will be held behind closed doors because of the boy's age in the Family Part of Superior Court in Hackensack.
"At this time, it is not known what, if any, motive there was for the assault," Chief McGurr said Wednesday morning. "Based upon a preliminary investigation, it does not appear the assault was precipitated by any type of confrontation or problem between the involved persons."
The Bergen County Prosecutor's Office was notified and the county sheriff's Bureau of Criminal Identification collected evidence.
ANYONE with additional information is asked to contact the Teaneck Police Department at (201) 837-2600. Tips also can be made anonymously at BergenCrimeStoppers.org or by calling 844-466-6789, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
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Kyle Mazza of UNF News took the photos and contributed to this story.
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