A Hoboken man, who is also a registered sex offender according to the public registry provided by New Jersey State Police, was arrested early Monday morning for getting into a physical altercation with a married couple, authorities said.
By John Heinis/Hudson County View
Rakeem Nichols, 28, of Hoboken, was charged with two counts of simple assault on March 16th, according to Police Det. Lt. Danilo Cabrera.
At about 6:33 a.m. on Monday, while in the area of 10th and Washington Streets, a man was struck from behind by a garbage can before turning around and being confronted by Nichols, police said.
A physical altercation ensued between the two. As Nichols was engaged in the skirmish with the the victim, his wife came to help him. As a result, Nichols also became involved in a physical altercation with the woman, officials said.
Eventually, the couple separated themselves from Nichols and fled the area. The two victims flagged down Police Officer John Hermann who was patrolling in the area.
Hermann then gave a description of Nichols, before Sgt. Robert Roman, alongs with Officers Christopher Barral and Joshua Campoverde, stopped Nichols in the area of 1108 Bloomfield St.
An on-scene investigation lead to the discovery of one of the victim’s cell phones in Nichols’ possession. Nichols was later identified by the victims and placed under arrest.
Nichols was transported to headquarters, where a continuation of the investigation was conducted by Det. Michael Miranda, authorities said.
According to the NJSP Sex Offender Registry, Nicholas is a tier 2, or moderate, risk and lives on Washington Street.
I saw that the sex offender attacker was RELEASED and walking around Hoboken like nothing happened. People need to be aware that this man is a threat to their safety! He attacked the married couple with sole purpose of hurting and possibly killing them! This man MUST be detained by police to protect the innocent men, women, and children of Hoboken. If not, we are just waiting for this terrible man to attack someone else in another senseless violent crime.