Thread: Illegal Aliens Jailed after stabbing over prostitute

May 24, 2006

By BRENDAN BERLS

Herald Staff Writer

NEWTON — Three men, all described as illegal immigrants, have been jailed following a violent brawl in a Spring Street apartment Sunday night that erupted over a prostitute, authorities said.

One of the men was hit over the head with a beer bottle, another was cut with an 8-inch kitchen knife. The third defendant, Javier Calderon Rodriguez, 23, who was not seriously injured, allegedly stabbed a fourth man repeatedly in the chest with a broken bottle. The fourth man was not arrested.

The four roommates — all Mexicans who have been living in Newton for about a year — hired a prostitute to come to their apartment at 191 Spring St., with each contributing $30, officials said. The trouble began after the woman left, apparently after engaging in sex acts with only three of the men, authorities said.

"One of the men became dissatisfied with the services of the prostitute and wanted his money back, and a fight started," Assistant Sussex County Prosecutor Gregory Mueller told Superior Court Judge Edward Gannon on Tuesday at a first appearance for the three defendants.

Along with Rodriguez, the defendants were Justino Calderon Fernandez, 55, and Raymundo Reyes Mendoza, 32. The man stabbed in the chest was 31-year-old Nemias DeLeon Hernandez.

Police responded to the apartment at about 9:30 p.m. Sunday after receiving a 911 call. The first officer there, Patrolman Shawn Burke, later described the scene in a sworn affidavit.

"Upon arrival, I observed four Spanish males standing in the apartment covered in blood," Burke said in the affidavit. "All four were apparently intoxicated, and there were numerous six packs of empty bottles of Corona beer in the apartment."

None of the four men spoke English, and police sought the help of a corrections officer from the Sussex County jail to act as an interpreter so they could figure out what happened.

According to Mueller and the police affidavit, the dispute turned violent when Fernandez smashed a beer bottle over Mendoza's head after Mendoza began demanding his $30 back. Mendoza then allegedly retaliated by attacking Fernandez with an 8-inch knife, cutting the older man's left hand and elbow.

Hernandez apparently tried to break up the fight, taking the knife away from Mendoza and placing it in the kitchen. Soon afterward, however, Rodriguez attacked him with the broken bottle, authorities said.

Hernandez's injuries were so severe that he was flown to Morristown Memorial Hospital's trauma unit, where more than 20 stitches were needed to close the large gash in his chest, as well as other wounds on his arm and hand. He was later released from the hospital and was expected to recover, authorities said.

The prostitute left the apartment before the fight broke out, and she could not be found afterward, police said.

Because of the severity of the injuries he allegedly inflicted, Rodriguez faces the stiffest charge, second-degree aggravated assault, along with unlawful possession of a weapon; he was held on $100,000 bail.

Fernandez and Mendoza were both charged with the same weapons offense but faced a lesser aggravated assault charge; their bail was $20,000 each.

In court Tuesday, Gannon told the three men they would have to surrender their passports in order to be freed on bail. Since none of them has a passport, that means none would likely be allowed out of jail, even if he came up with the bail money.

The four men were among six residents in the 191 Spring St. apartment, police said. The defendants also presented police with phony identification documents and later admitted they were in the United States illegally.

Mueller said he believed the men had been working as day laborers in the area.

"From what I understand, they would just get odd jobs, whatever was available," he said, adding that the prosecutors would contact U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement about the defendants' illegal status.

Sunday's brawl was the second such violent event in Newton in three days.

In the earlier incident, on Thursday, one man allegedly stabbed a neighbor in a rooming house on Main Street in a fight over a woman. That man, Daniel Reynolds, was charged with attempted murder and is also being held in the jail.

http://www.njherald.com/286165323961836.php

Desperate dudes.....

Just renews my faith in the good hard-workin' family values.

Oh this is just pathetic. I say we take up a collection and buy them all a Ho and a night in Lincoln's Bedroom .

...guess we'll be paying for another 4 illegal alien's aids treatments

Yes we will be paying the hospital fees, the jail expenses and the court expenses and the appeal expenses and hopefully finally the deportation expenses. Then we wonder why our government has no money. Just more hard workin folk just trying to be american citizens. Gimmee a break!!!