An Atlantic City man accused of stabbing his former girlfriend and her boyfriend the day after a restraining order was filed has been ordered held in jail, despite a recommendation for his release.
The day before the attack last Friday, the woman filed a temporary restraining order against Carlos Suarez-Vega.
"The defendant told the victim he would be her worst nightmare," Assistant Prosecutor Gina DeAnnuntis told the judge. "He also told her not to sleep well at night. Finally, he told her that he would kill her and her new boyfriend."
The next day, Suarez-Vega allegedly broke into the home in the 600 block of Virginia Avenue, and stabbed the couple, both 35, whose names are not being released.
But defense attorney Sarah Weinstock said that, despite the restraining order, Suarez-Vega said his ex-girlfriend called him for help, which is why he came to the home.
Weinstock said it was a language barrier that caused her client — who listened to the hearing through a Spanish interpreter — to flee police.
"Because the door was locked, he had to use a brick, right?" Judge John Rauh asked.
"Judge, I don't know that it was brick, per se," Weinstock replied, allowing that the charges indicate the door was broken.
The defense also indicated that there were other knives on the ground when police arrived, and that the case was likely one of self-defense on the part of her client, who also had a stab wound.
But DeAnnuntis said the victims' injuries were not consistent with that version of events.
The woman had lost a large amount of blood before police arrived and was hemorrhaging from both upper arms, she noted.
Police credited Officer Joseph Bereheiko, a trained EMT, with rendering life-saving medical aid.
The report also lists the defendant's last name as Suarez-Vera.
The public safety assessment, which helps determine whether a defendant should be held under bail reform, recommended Suarez-Vega's release, with a two out of six for both failure to appear and likelihood to reoffend. It also had no new flag for violence.
Despite that, the judge ordered him held, citing the safety of the community.
While Rauh said that the temporary restraining order was merely an allegation, "the fact that the female victim sought and obtained that order makes it difficult to believe the next day, she would have reached out to (the defendant) for help."
