A person was taken into custody after allegedly beating an individual so badly outdoors the Change Place PATH station in Jersey Metropolis, the sufferer was left with a life-altering harm.
The Port Authority mentioned 35-year-old Michael Anthony Perez was arrested on fees of aggravated assault after allegedly attacking somebody outdoors the PATH station on Dec. 28 simply after 6 p.m.
The alleged assault occurred outdoors the station on Jersey Metropolis property.
The sufferer, Matt Hobbs, was taken to a neighborhood hospital for analysis. He suffered a slew of accidents, together with damaged bones, cuts, mind bleeds and extra.
Hobbs, a father of two who labored as a realtor for a agency in Jersey Metropolis, faces a protracted restoration, with one eye left completely broken. He was recovering within the house of his ex-wife, Vanessa Hobbs, on Friday.
“We don’t know what the end result of his vision will be, but they have said it will not be the vision he had on December 27. So pray, positive vibes — whatever you believe, we’re taking anything and everything,” mentioned Vanessa Hobbs.
She mentioned it was a homeless man who helped lead police to creating the arrest.
“It was a homeless person that made a difference, they would’ve never caught him. [The suspect] went on an elevator, took the elevator down to the PATH, got on the PATH and was going to leave,” Vanessa Hobbs mentioned. “But the witness identified him so perfectly that when the police got on the train, there was no doubt to who he was.”
Perez, of Staten Island, was taken into custody and transferred to the Hudson County Correctional Facility. Vanessa Hobbs, skilled as a nurse and dealing in healthcare, mentioned holding him behind bars will not be sufficient.
“In my perspective, there’s a big mental health crisis going on and we’re cycling these people into jail, which is not the right place for them to be,” she mentioned. “We have to get them off the streets that’s not helping society and putting in jail isn’t helping the situation either.”
A crowdfunding web page raised greater than $40,000 to assist pay for Hobbs’ medical payments — contributions Vanessa Hobbs known as “humbling” and “honoring.”
“I don’t really have words I can articulate. I just think everyone 1,000 times over, it’s made a difference. It’s a bright light…It takes a village,” mentioned mentioned.
