WEST NEW YORK AND UNION CITY — Photos of a West New York teen wanted in the deadly Memorial Day stabbing at an after hours club in Union City have been released by the Hudson County Prosecutor’s Office.
A warrant was issued earlier this week for 18-year-old Daniel Balbuena after a fight involving a group of men near the front of Studio 45 Nite Club on Bergenline Avenue led to one man’s death; another is still in the hospital in critical condition.
Hudson County Prosecutor Edward DeFazio said that Ivan Restrepo, 23, of Union City, was stabbed a dozen times around 3 a.m. Monday morning and died upon arrival at the hospital. His brother, Alejandro Restrepo, 19, also of Union City, was stabbed multiple times and is still in critical condition.
Juan Ventura Balbuena, 19, of West New York, was arrested at the scene but investigators said that his cousin, Daniel Balbuena, is also a suspect and is currently on the run.
According to DeFazio, there were a number of witnesses to the event, which he said started as a verbal argument and escalated into a physical altercation.
Union City officials shut down Studio 45 the day following the incident and have announced plans to keep the business from reopening.
Anyone with information about the incident or Daniel Balbuena’s whereabouts has been asked to call the Prosecutor’s Office Homicide Squad at (201) 915-1345. Investigators said he is also known as “Daniel Balbuena Cortez” and “Erik Garcia.” He was born in Mexico and is approximately 5’10” to 5’11”.
Read more about the details of this story in this weekend’s edition of the Union City Reporter.
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