When two Newark mechanics made a delivery to a Belgrove Drive apartment house last night, one of them got much more than he bargained for — lacerations and stab wounds to his face — Capt. Timothy Wagner, the Kearny Police Department’s public-information officer said this morning.
According to Wagner:
At around 9:30 p.m., Thursday, Oct. 14, the two mechanics drove from Newark to 111 Belgrove Drive to make the drop-off. But when they arrived, somehow, they got into an argument with Jesus A. Ibarra, 32, who lives in the building. The delivery was not intended for Ibarra.
Thing is, no one, including the two mechanics, seem to know why the argument ensued — and one of them even told the Kearny PD he’d never seen Ibarra before.
During the argument, Wagner says, Ibarra reportedly pulled out a knife, slashing and stabbing one of the mechanics, a Newark man, 48, in the face, causing serious wounds.
After Ibarra slashed the man, he retreated back inside his apartment, at which time the Kearny PD called the Hudson County Regional SWAT team in to assist. As all of this was happening, residents on one floor of the building were evacuated across the street to Washington School until the situation was brought under control.
After a judge issued a warrant for Ibarra’s arrest, the unit and KPD entered Ibarra’s apartment, handcuffing him and bringing him into custody without any further carnage.
Ibarra has been charged with aggravated assault, unlawful possession of a weapon and possession of a weapon for unlawful purposes.
As of publication, Ibarra was still at KPD Headquarters.
It’s not immediately clear whether he’ll be remanded to the Hudson County Jail or whether he might be granted bail.
Check back for more on this developing story.
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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.