Belleville Man Stabbed at Strip Club Accused of Bludgeoning Pair With Hammer

A Belleville man who was stabbed last month during a strip club melee has been charged with aggravated assault for bludgeoning two people with a hammer outside the South Hackensack bar, the Bergen County Prosecutor's Office said.

Anthony Pate, 37, of Union Avenue in Belleville, has been charged with two counts of aggravated assault and weapons offenses stemming from the Jan. 27 incident outside Twins Plus Lounge.

Pate is accused of attacking Garfield residents Raphael Carrion Jr., 28, and Lukasz Dziewiatkowski, 32, with a hammer. Pate is being held at the Bergen County Prosecutor's Office in lieu of $150,000 bail with no 10 percent option.

According to the prosecutor's office, Ernest Brodie, 20, of Harrison, Jesus Colon, 21, and Pate were together and Carrion, Dziewiatkowski and Benjamin Venegas, 28, of Garfield, were another group at the bar.

The two groups got into an argument inside the bar that spilled outside, the prosecutor's office said. During the altercation outside, Pate struck Carrion and Dziewiatkowski with the hammer, the prosecutor's office said. Carrion stabbed Pate once in the torso during the melee, the prosecutor's office said.

The altercation escalated when Brodie got into his vehicle, which was parked behind the bar, and intentionally drove into Dziewiatkowski on Saddle River Avenue, the prosecutor's office said. Brodie then turned around and accelerated to intentionally strike Venegas with the vehicle on South Main Street, the prosecutor's office said.

Dziewiatkowski suffered several broken bones and was treated and released from Hackensack University Medical Center. Venegas sustained serious head trauma and was released from HUMC on Jan. 30, the prosecutor's office said.

Pate was treated at St. Joseph's Hospital and Medical Center and was released on Jan. 29. Carrion was critically injured and recently released from HUMC, the prosecutor's office said. Colon suffered lacerations to his face and leg and was released from HUMC.

Brodie was charged immediately after the incident with two counts of attempted murder. A judge set his bail at $500,000. Colon was previously charged with aggravated assault and simple assault. His bail was set at $100,000.

Venegas has now been charged with aggravated assault and weapons offenses. He was processed and released after posting $75,000 bail.

Carrion is now also charged with aggravated assault and weapons offenses. He is being held at the Bergen County Jail in lieu of $150,000 bail with no 10 percent option.

The bar owners also face 14 ordinance violations for "various alleged infractions of borough ordinances and ABC laws," the prosecutor's office said.