Two New York men have been indicted in a melee inside the Tropicana Hotel and Casino that left three men stabbed.
Jabari Cummings, 21, of Brooklyn, and Delroy McNeil, 33, of Queens, originally were charged with attempted murder in the July 20, 2020, incident. But the grand jury indicted them on the lesser charge of aggravated assault.
The charges stem from a fight between two groups — one from New York and the other from New Jersey — that started as a verbal dispute just after 3 a.m.
It started with a verbal just after 3 a.m., according to the charges. That turned into two separate fights between the groups that left three men wounded, including McNeil.
McNeil is accused of stabbing a man in the chest inside the casino bathroom.
But during his detention hearing last year, his then-defense attorney Nicole Wise said that it was McNeil who feared for his life.
He was stabbed inside the bathroom, where he overheard two men in the other group say they “intended to kill people some time tonight,” Wise said.
Casino surveillance footage shows the other two men leave the bathroom with one stabbed. McNeil walks out later, also wounded.
Wise said the victim could not positively identify who stabbed him inside the bathroom, and admitted they all had been drinking, using the term “drunk like a skunk.”
Around the same time as the bathroom incident, Cummings is accused of stabbing another man during a fight on the casino floor, which was also captured on surveillance video that was shown in court.
Another man from New Jersey was wounded in that fight.
The scuffle led outside, where two other men from New York were accused of robbing one of the victims. There was no information about where their cases stand.
Surveillance video outside the casino shows the victim with his hands up as the two defendants went through his pockets.
Later that day, the New Jersey State Police were at AtlantiCare Regional Medical Center's City Campus investigating the stabbings when they learned that a vehicle connected to the investigation was at the hospital.
Blood was found on the car door.
As detectives approached the vehicle with several people inside, Cummings allegedly tossed two knives and 14 vials of cocaine under the vehicle.
He is additionally charged with cocaine possession and tampering with physical evidence.
“The New Jersey State Police do an excellent job preserving safety and security in the Atlantic City casinos,” Attorney General Gurbir Grewal. “When violence broke out on July 20, 2020, resulting in two serious stabbings, the State Police moved swiftly to identify and arrest the assailants who were responsible. This indictment is an important next step in the prosecution of these defendants.”
The Division of Criminal Justice Specialized Crimes Bureau works closely with the State Police in these cases, said Director Veronica Allende said.
“By ensuring that those who commit crimes are apprehended and fully prosecuted, we help to deter this type of conduct in the casinos,” she said.
“When violence erupts in crowded locations, the ensuing chaos can make it difficult for investigators to piece together the sequence of events, but the State Police detectives who investigated both assaults used a variety of investigative techniques to not only make sense of the chaos, but to swiftly apprehend the accused,” said Colonel Patrick J. Callahan, superintendent of the New Jersey State Police. “I commend the diligent work of our detectives and partners at the Office of the Attorney General who have ensured the suspects are held accountable for their alleged crimes.”
The aggravated assault charges carry a sentence of five to 10 years in state prison and a criminal fine of as much as $150,000.
