HACKENSACK –
Three area residents were arrested in the aftermath of a brutal brawl outside a South Hackensack strip club in the early morning hours of Jan. 27 that left five people hurt, three seriously, according to Bergen County Prosecutor John Molinelli.
A press release issued by Molinelli’s office said that officers responded, at 1:44 a.m., to a report of a fight at the Twins Plus Lounge, 2 S. Main St., where, upon arrival, officers found six men outside the club. Five of them were taken to area hospitals.
The prosecutor’s office said that investigators determined that there had been a fight between two groups of men, with one consisting of Ernest Brodie, 19, of Harrison; Jesus Colon, 21, of Lyndhurst; and Anthony Pate, 37, of Belleville; and the other, being Benjamin Venegas, 27, Raphael Carrion Jr., 28, and Lukasz Dziewiatkowski, 32, all of Garfield.
The office said the two groups got into an argument inside the bar which spilled outside and, in the street, Carrion was bludgeoned in the head with a hammer and Pate was stabbed once in the body. Additionally, it said, it is alleged that Brodie entered his vehicle, which was parked outside the club, and intentionally drove into Dziewiatkowski on Saddle River Ave. Brodie then turned around, returning to S. Main St., and intentionally struck Venegas with his vehicle, police alleged.
Police said Dziewiatkowski was treated at Hackensack University Medical Center for several broken bones and released; Venegas remains at HUMC for treatment of severe head trauma in critical condition; Pate was taken to St. Joseph’s Hospital and Medical Center, Paterson, where he is in critical but stable condition; Carrion is in HUMC in critical condition with multiple skull fractures; and Colon was treated at HUMC for cuts to his face and leg and released.
Brodie is charged with two counts of attempted murder and is being held on $500,000 bail with no 10% cash option. Colon is charged with aggravated assault on Carrion and simple assault on Dziewiatkowski and is being held on $100,000 bail with no 10% cash option. Dziewiatkowski is charged with simple assault and disorderly conduct and has been released pending a court date.
An investigation by the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office’s Major Crimes Unit and the South Hackensack Police Department’s Detective Bureau is continuing and charges are expected to be filed against the other individuals involved in the fight, Molinelli said.
– Ron Leir
