Man Slashes Cousin, Provides False ID, Cops Say

A Sussex Avenue resident was arrested after police say he slashed his cousin with a knife during an evening of alcohol.

Cristobal Rodriguez, 30, was arrested and charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, possession of a weapon for unlawful purpose, unlawful possession of a weapon and hindering apprehension shortly after 1 a.m. on Jan. 15.

According to a report filed by officer Joseph Heuneman, police responded to Sussex Avenue on report of a man being assaulted with a knife. When he arrived, Heuneman found officer Roberto Rosado speaking with a man in Spanish.

That man told Rosado, according to Heuneman's report, that his cousin, identified as Rodriguez, had attacked him with a knife. Heuneman noted in his report the victim had an approximately 3-inch bleeding laceration behind his left ear.

The victim directed the officers to the apartment in the house where he said his cousin lived, the report said. When the officers confronted Rodriguez about the incident, he said his name was "Javier Santos" and he did not have any identification on him, according to the report.

A search through his apartment found a wallet with identification indicating the man was Rodriguez, according to the report. He was placed under arrest and transported to the Morristown Police Department for processing.

While being treated at Morristown Medical Center, the victim told police his cousin had invited him over to drink that night and at one point opened a dresser drawer to reveal a folding knife, the report said. Rodriguez opened the knife and then, without provocation or prior dispute, attempted to assault the victim, according to the report.

The victim made it outside of the house but Rodriguez caught up with him, pushed him down and slashed him behind the ear with the knife, according to the report. Rodriguez then ran back inside.

Due to heavy rains that evening, nothing could be seen as evidence outside where the incident allegedly occurred, according to the report.

Meanwhile at Morristown Police headquarters, Rodriguez continued to deny his name, saying he was "Javier Santos," the report said.

The knife alleged to have been used in the incident also was found in plain view next to where Rodriguez had been sitting in his apartment, closed and with blood on the blade, according to the report.

While processing his Prisoner Property Sheet, the man signed his name as "Cristobal Rodriguez," according to the report.

Rodriguez was transported to the Morris County Detention Center in lieu of $25,000 bail with no 10 percent option. An Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) inquiry also was submitted, per attorney general guidelines, according to the report.

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