Police: Man brandishes knife during street fight, waves knife at cop, in West New York

A North Bergen man armed with a knife during a West New York street fight waved the weapon at a police officer before he put the weapon away and was brought into custody, officials said.

By John Heinis/Hudson County View

Thaab Abdallah, 22, of North Bergen, was arrested on January 21 on charges of possession of a weapon for unlawful purposes, unlawful possession of a weapon and aggravated assault, police said.

On January 21 at approximately 4:11 p.m., a West New York police officer on routine patrol observed two men involved in a physical altercation on 64th Street and Bergenline Avenue, authorities said.

At that point, the police officer exited the marked police vehicle and approached the two men fighting, noticing one combatant was armed with a knife, officials said.

The suspect, Abdallah, waved the weapon in a menacing manner putting the victim and police officer in a potentially fatal situation, police said.

The police officer immediately ordered the armed suspect to drop the knife numerous times. After a brief standoff, Abdallah proceeded to place the weapon in his pant pocket, authorities said.

From there, the officer and back up police officers successfully subdued Abdallah and retrieved the weapon before placing him under arrest, officials said.

“Yet another reason why we are tremendously proud of our police officers as this could have been a deadly situation” Mayor Felix Roque said in a statement.

Police Director Robert Antolos added “We praise the officer for his professionalism and restraint in bringing this situation to a peaceful end.”