A suspect has been arrested for slashing a woman with a machete inside a New Jersey apartment building, officials announced.
Josue Corea is facing counts of attempted murder, aggravated assault, weapons offenses and resisting arrest in connection with the attack in Bergen County, the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office said in a press release late Wednesday.
The violence unfolded Tuesday morning at an apartment building on Day Ave. in Fairview. When officers arrived on the scene around 10:10 a.m., they discovered a 49-year-old woman suffering from a large gash to the head. She was transported to Hackensack University Medical Center, where she remained hospitalized in stable condition as of Thursday morning.
Detectives with the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office Major Crimes Unit were alerted to the attack and a joint investigation was subsequently launched with the Fairview Police Department. It revealed that Corea, a resident in the apartment building, approached the woman near a common area stairwell and then struck her in the head with a machete.
Corea then “attempted to strike the victim several more times before ultimately fleeing the scene,” according the prosecutor’s office.
Some 45 minutes later, the suspect was spotted traveling along River Road in Edgewater. He was then taken into custody by the Cliffside Park Police Department, prosecutors said.
Corea was being held at the Bergen County Jail pending his initial court appearance. Authorities did not say whether he knew the victim and his motive is still unknown.
