Jabari O. Cummings, 31, of Brooklyn was sitting in the vehicle outside AtlantiCare Regional Medical Center in Atlantic City, where the victims had been taken after a predawn brawl at the Tropicana Hotel and Casino, the indictment returned in Trenton says.
Seeing police approaching, Cummings tried to stash the drugs and weapons, it says.
Authorities charged Cummings and Delroy H. McNeil, 33, of Queens, with aggravated assault and weapons offenses. Cummings also was charged with drug possession and evidence tampering.
The trouble began shortly before 3 a.m. July 20, when a large fight broke out between combatants from both states, state Attorney General Gurbir S. Grewal said.
McNeil stabbed one man in the chest and abdomen in a bathroom, Grewal said.
Cummings stabbed as second man in the left side, injuring his lung, on the casino floor, the attorney general said.
“The New Jersey State Police do an excellent job preserving safety and security in the Atlantic City casinos,” Grewal said. “They moved swiftly to identify and arrest the assailants who were responsible.”
An indictment was obtained by Deputy Attorneys General Jennifer Fipp and Katelyn Waegener of the state Division of Criminal Justice Specialized Crimes Bureau following an investigation by the New Jersey State Police Major Crime Bureau.
“When violence erupts in crowded locations, the ensuing chaos can make it difficult for investigators to piece together the sequence of events,” NJSP Supt. Col. Patrick J. Callahan said.
His detectives “used a variety of investigative techniques to not only make sense of the chaos but to swiftly apprehend the accused.”
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