An Atlantic City man who insists he was helping his neighbor following an attack was ordered held in jail as the aggressor.
Nicholas Hall, 36, is charged with aggravated assault and weapons offenses in Dec. 4 attack that left the victim with stab wounds to the leg and hand.
When officers arrived, Hall appeared to be rendering aid, police previously said.
Hall told his attorney that is what happened, public defender Maya Rex told the judge a detention hearing last week.
The victim told police that three males wearing masks assaulted him, Rex said.
But video shows a different story, according to the state.
"The entire altercation was captured on surveillance, which police viewed and were able to observe this defendant leave the scene and head to his apartment," Assistant Prosecutor Paige Cramer told the judge.
A crisis negotiator was called, and Hall eventually exited his apartment, she said.
Cramer also pointed to Hall's significant criminal history that includes pending drug charges from April, and a failure to appear out of Bass River Township from November.
He also has 20 disorderly persons convictions and five prior indictable convictions out of Ocean County.
This defendant's unlawful behavior has escalated significantly," Cramer said.
All of the facts of the case are in dispute, Rex said.
Hall was the one who called police, she noted as he nodded. She also said he cares for his disabled mother and his sister who has Down syndrome, along with financially providing for his 11-year-old daughter.
He told the judge he works for ShopRite resetting shelves for various locations.
Judge Patricia Wild said she had doubts that he's employed.
"The picture of Mr. Hall as painted today in his behalf by defense counsel is quite different than the picture I get from the paperwork here," Wild said. "To me, it looks like he's got a serious drug problem."
She called his criminal history "deplorable."
"He's got a history of assaultive behavior all the way from 2008," Wild said. "The picture here, to me, is someone who has not overcome a drug problem."
At his first appearance days before the detention hearing, Hall was seen dozing off several times.
“You have to stay awake for the hearing, sir,” Judge Joseph Levin told him, after calling Hall’s name several times.
“I’m awake,” Hall replied.
“OK, you don’t look like you’re awake,” the judge told him.
