An Atlantic City man who allegedly had to be hit with a fire extinguisher to stop a knife attack that wounded two people was ordered held in jail Wednesday.
Brian Jackson, who also goes by Abdulwali Abdullah, faces eight charges in the April 4 incident inside an Atlantic City rooming house that he manages.
Jackson is accused of attacking a 65-year-old woman, who was found motionless on the third floor of the building. A man who came to her aid was also wounded.
Jackson then allegedly kicked responding Officer William Luengas-Gonzalez. Once at the hospital, Jackson is accused of kicking a female medical worker in the chest, according to the affidavit of probable cause.
At that time, a bag of crack cocaine was found in his hoodie, the affidavit states.
Defense attorney Rochelle Rozier indicated there may be a "viable self-defense," saying that Jackson's job was "to maintain the integrity of that property by ensuring there are no trespassers, et cetera."
But "regardless of the cause or the start of the stabbing incident, the defendant is also charged with assaulting a law enforcement officer and an EMT," Assistant Prosecutor Katrina Koerner told the judge.
Jackson is currently serving a suspended three-year sentence as part of a 2019 plea deal that wrapped up four cases, including drug and weapons offenses, theft and terroristic threats, according to information provided during the hearing.
While a retainer had not yet been filed in relation to that sentence, probation has indicated the office will be filing a petition to revoke his suspended sentence.
In addition to managing the building, Rozier said her client also works as a steward at the Borgata and does maintenance at a nursing home in Ocean City.
He now has COVID-19 and suffers from asthma, she told the judge. He also has not been getting his psychiatric medication while in jail, where he was brought Friday, after nearly a week in the hospital.
Officers were called to an apartment complex in the 2600 block Pacific Avenue at 2:17 a.m. Sunday, and found a 32-year-old man running from the building with a stab wound, according to the affidavit.
The male victim's wife told BreakingAC that her husband came to the aid of the woman, and wound up stabbed in the chest, neck and lip being attacked after they heard a commotion in the hallway.
The witness said she heard a lot of screaming in the hallway, and opened the door to see her neighbor being stabbed.
She screamed for her husband, who confronted the man and wound up getting attacked.
The woman said she got a hockey stick and started hitting Jackson to stop the attack on her husband. Another man then struck Jackson with a fire extinguisher.
Superior Court Judge Donna Taylor ordered Jackson held in the Atlantic County Justice Facility pending the outcome of his case.
