Hoboken police have announced the arrest of a 70 year old defendant, who they claim vandalized his neighbor’s apartments on more than 30 different occasions over the course of two years. The senior citizen was alleged to have thrown eggs and liquids, including ammonia, on his neighbor’s doors. One female victim actually slipped on the liquid outside her door and seriously injured her shoulder.
In a surprising twist, the serial vandal, who had remained secretive for years, admitted the stunts, after being confronted by police. Police confronted the defendant with video evidence after the woman’s son, a Hoboken cop, installed a surveillance camera outside her door. According to police, his excuse for the acts was that he was frustrated by noise coming from his neighbor’s apartment. He also claimed that the woman’s daughter made a lot of noise and that building management would not do anything about the noise. However, police have said that the woman did not have a daughter.
Incredibly, the female victim said she has known the defendant for approximately 20 years and has never had a problem with him. The elderly defendant faces a total of 28 counts of criminal mischief, two counts of stalking and one count of aggravated assault. The criminal mischief charges are presumably from the acts of vandalism, while the stalking charges arise from repeated acts of harassment. The defendant was presumably charged with assault because the victim slipped on the liquid the defendant had poured and was injured. The charge is upgraded to an aggravated assault because the victim supposedly suffered a serious injury. A big misconception among the general public is that you have to physically attack someone else to be charged with an assault. However, if your actions lead to another’s injuries, you can be just as guilty of an assault. To learn more about aggravated assault, criminal mischief and stalking, feel free to visit our New Jersey Assault & Threat Crimes page.
