Bergen County Prosecutor Mark Musella announced the arrest of 29-year-old EFRAIN ESCOBAR of Bronx, NY on charges of aggravated assault and endangering an injured person. The arrest was the result of a months-long investigation conducted by the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office under the direction of Chief Matthew Finck and the Fort Lee Police Department under the direction of Chief Matthew Hintze.
On Monday, April 8, 2024, at approximately 7:14 p.m., the Fort Lee Police Department responded to a report of an assault at the Plaza West Mall on Bergen Boulevard. The suspect had fled the scene, but responding officers located a 77-year-old victim who was transported via ambulance to Hackensack University Medical Center. As a result of the assault, the victim suffered serious bodily injury and was in a medically induced coma for approximately two months.
Fort Lee Police notified the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office Major Crimes Unit of the incident, and a joint investigation was initiated. The investigation revealed that a minor motor vehicle collision occurred between the 77-year-old male victim and the suspect. After a brief verbal altercation, the suspect assaulted the victim by punching him in the face, knocking him unconscious and leaving him incapacitated. Detectives concluded that the suspect was a stranger to the victim, with the attack occurring in connection to the accident and was otherwise unprovoked. Subsequently, detectives identified the suspect as EFRAIN ESCOBAR of Bronx, NY.
As a result of the investigation, on July 9, 2024, EFRAIN ESCOBAR was charged with second-degree aggravated assault, N.J.S.A. 2C:12-1b(1); and third-degree endangering an injured person, N.J.S.A. 2C:12-1.2a. On Wednesday, July 10, 2024, detectives from the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office Major Crimes Unit and the Fort Lee Police Department, alongside officers from the New York City Police Department (NYPD) and special agents from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI New York, Safe Streets Task Force), located and arrested EFRAIN ESCOBAR at his residence in Bronx, NY. ESCOBAR is currently held in federal custody in the state of New York, pending extradition to Bergen County, NJ.
Prosecutor Musella states that the charges are merely accusations, and that the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. He would like to thank the Fort Lee Police Department for its assistance with this investigation, as well as the Federal Bureau of Investigation (New York, Safe Streets Task Force) and the New York City Police Department for their assistance in the apprehension of the defendant.
