KEARNY, NJ – Six people have been charged and one suspect remains wanted following a stabbing that erupted during a large fight outside a Wawa convenience store in Kearny earlier this fall, police announced. The incident occurred around 2 a.m. on September 9 in the parking lot of the Wawa located at 150 Harrison Avenue, where officers responded to reports of a brawl involving eight to ten individuals.
According to the Kearny Police Department, the confrontation was a retaliatory altercation connected to an earlier dispute. During the fight, an 18-year-old man from Harrison was stabbed more than five times and transported to University Hospital in Newark for treatment. Authorities said the participants were known to one another and that the incident did not pose a threat to the wider community.
After a months-long investigation involving extensive interviews and the review of digital and physical evidence, detectives identified six suspects and obtained arrest warrants for all of them. Five have been taken into custody: Lucca Melo, Exequiel Aguilar-Argueta, Junior Urquilla, Marvin Martinez, and Orlando Santana.
Melo faces multiple charges, including aggravated assault, conspiracy to commit aggravated assault, possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose, and unlawful possession of a weapon. Aguilar-Argueta, Urquilla, Marvin Martinez, and Santana have each been charged with aggravated assault and conspiracy to commit aggravated assault.
A sixth suspect, David Martinez, remains at large and is wanted on charges of aggravated assault and conspiracy to commit aggravated assault. Police are urging anyone with information on his whereabouts to contact Detective Matos of the Kearny Police Department Detective Bureau at (201) 998-1313 ext. 2837.
Police have charged six suspects and are searching for a seventh after a stabbing outside a Kearny Wawa left one man seriously injured.