NUTLEY —
A 27-year-old Clifton man has been arrested and charged with aggravated assault and weapons possession after he reportedly roughed up a 22-year-old Kearny man in the municipal parking lot nearest the Nutley Diner, the Nutley Police Department said.
Police said they responded to Municipal Lot 1, behind the diner, on Aug. 24 at 10:40 p.m., on a report of a fight. It was there they found the victim, who was not seriously hurt. The victim told police the suspect, later identified as Michael Brown, attacked him in the lot while brandishing a knife.
Brown reportedly ran toward Centre St., whose T-shirt was reportedly covered in blood from the fight, prior to police arriving. However, police quickly found a bloodied T-shirt on Ravine Ave., and then discovered Brown, who, they said, was hiding in the back yard of a Ravine Ave. home.
Police said they searched the area for the knife the victim told them about, but they could not locate it.
Brown was sent to the Essex County Jail after he was unable to post $25,000 bail, police said.
Police Director/Commissioner Alphonse Petracco said that years ago, weapons were rarely used in scuffles, but today, they’re much more common.
“It is a daunting task trying to keep criminals from coming to Nutley, but I remain steadfast on bolstering the Public Safety Department in an effort to keep crimes like this from happening here,” Petracco said. “(We want to) deter anyone from thinking about victimizing our residents and visitors.”
Police Chief Thomas Strumolo said Brown recently relocated to Clifton from California. He said although the altercation appeared to be related to a woman both men knew, the suspect and victim didn’t know each other.
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Kevin A. Canessa Jr. is the editor of and broadcaster at The Observer, an organization he has served since 2006. He is responsible for the editorial content of the newspaper and website, the production of the e-Newspaper, writing several stories per week (including the weekly editorial), conducting live broadcasts on social media channels such as YouTube, Facebook, and X, including a weekly recap of the news — and much more behind the scenes. Between 2006 and 2008, he introduced the newspaper to its first-ever blog — which included podcasts, audio and video. Originally from Jersey City, Kevin lived in Kearny until 2004, lived in Port St. Lucie. Florida, for four years until February 2016 and in March of that year, he moved back to Kearny to return to The Observer full time. Click Here to send Kevin an email.