A Jersey City man was charged with aggravated assault, unlawful possession of a weapon, and cruelty to animals last week after he allegedly stabbed a man and a dog with a screwdriver in separate incidents on Monday morning, according to a police report.
Police say that Varnell Richardson, 26, sneaked up on a dog and her owner near First and Harrison streets. Richardson allegedly attacked the dog, named Sasha, jumping on her back and stabbing her in the hind legs. Then, another man came forward alleging that Richardson had stabbed him under his right eye outside a nearby car wash, according to a police report.
After talking to the dog owner, police noticed Richardson, who matched the description of the attacker. The police report said that Richardson approached the officers asking what was happening, and denied any involvement in the attacks.
But then Sasha’s owner and the second victim came to police and identified Richardson as the attacker, according to the report. A witness recovered the screwdriver, which Richardson allegedly threw away near the car wash, and handed it over to police.
According to the report, Richardson allegedly became violent and aggressive when he was transported to police headquarters, leading officers to believe that he was under the influence of a controlled dangerous substance. Sasha and the second victim were treated for their injuries.
A bad trip… to jail?
Two Hudson County men were charged with drug possession and being under the influence after one of them passed out after allegedly consuming a hallucinogenic drug and the other called 911 in a panic, according to a police report.
Efraim Cohen, 41, of Hoboken and Timothy Krafnick, 38, of Jersey City, apparently were hanging out at Cohen’s apartment on Washington Street last Sunday night. Cohen later told police that Krafnick allegedly mixed him a drink containing a liquid he assumed was marijuana, though Krafnick told police it was Gamma-Hydroxybutyric acid, commonly known as GHB, the report said.
According to the report, Krafnick passed out around 9:30 a.m. on Monday after allegedly consuming more GHB. Cohen called 911. The police report said that Cohen told police that he and Krafnick also allegedly smoked the drug out of a pipe, which was in plain view, along with several small bottles of clear and purple liquid.
When police arrived at Cohen’s apartment, Krafnick was apparently lying in the fetal position on the floor, allegedly pretending to be asleep. He was transported to Hoboken University Medical Center before being placed under arrest.
Two people saw something, and said something
A man with open arrest warrants in Jersey City and Morristown was arrested near Hoboken Terminal last Friday and charged with unlawful possession of a weapon after police found him walking around downtown Hoboken allegedly yelling loudly and waving around a short silver pocket knife, according to a police report.
Ralph Hill, 51, of Jersey City, surrendered the knife when confronted by police officers near the Hoboken Terminal taxi stand. He allegedly told police that he had been drinking, but he was unsure of how much alcohol he’d consumed, said the report.
Officers were tipped off to Hill’s alleged activities by a man who waved down a police car on First Street and also by a 911 call from a female commuter who said that while Hill had not directly threatened anyone, he had made her feel unsafe.
When police ran Hill’s name through their system, they found that he had two warrants out for his arrest, both for failure to appear in court, from Jersey City and Morristown, the report said.