A Lansdale man is facing a variety of charges after he allegedly attacked his friend with a broken bottle after losing during a card game Tuesday morning, then allegedly smeared bodily fluids throughout a holding cell once he was taken into custody.
Cruz Chaj Alvarez, 29, has been charged with felony aggravated assault with extreme indifference along with misdemeanor counts of simple assault, reckless endangerment, resisting arrest, and institutional vandalism, in connection with the Oct. 3 incident in Lansdale Borough.
Chaj is currently being held at the county jail in lieu of $10,000 cash bail.
Police were dispatched to the 100 block of Susquehanna Avenue at 5:03 a.m. after county dispatch received an emergency call through the Spanish language line, with the caller disconnecting. Arriving police made contact with Chaj and the victim at the front door, with the victim being covered in blood and bleeding uncontrollably from a serious injury to his jawbone.
The victim told police he was playing cards with Chaj and another man inside of the residence, when Chaj became enraged after losing the game. Chaj then allegedly smashed a bottle and struck the victim in the face with it, according to charging documents.
The victim was transported from the scene via ambulance to the trauma center at Grand View Hospital for treatment of injuries.
Chaj told police he was friends with the victim and they had gotten into a fight, police said, noting that Chaj had minor injuries to his face, hands, and legs. The third man said he didn’t witness the assault as he had turned away and when he looked back, the victim was bleeding, the report states.
Police took Chaj into custody, at which point he allegedly resisted arrest. Once handcuffed, he was searched and taken to a holding cell at the Lansdale Borough Police Station.
Less than 30 minutes after being place in the holding cell, Chaj was observed ripping the cell’s mattress cover with his teeth, police said. Chaj also urinated, vomited, and defecated on the floor of the cell several feet away from the toilet, then smeared the fluids onto the lens of the surveillance camera in the cell, according to police.
Chaj was arraigned Tuesday evening by Magisterial District Judge Suzan Leonard, and his next court appearance is a preliminary hearing on Oct. 25 at 2 p.m. in front of Magisterial District Judge Ed Levine.
All suspects and defendants are innocent until proven guilty. This story was compiled using police reports, court records and the affidavit of probable cause.
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