A 23-year-old Palisades Park man is facing multiple charges after police say he called in a false report of a missing 4-month-old baby, then attacked two officers and threatened to kill one of them during the chaos that followed. Obel E. Simon-Lopez, described by authorities as a Guatemalan national living in the borough, was arrested after the incident and formally announced by Police Chief George Beck.
According to Daily Voice, officers responded to the area of Broad and Henry avenues around 3:33 p.m. on October 8 after receiving the report of a missing infant. When officers first arrived, they could not locate the caller at his apartment, but they eventually found Simon-Lopez outside on Broad Avenue, where he appeared intoxicated and allegedly tried to hide a Bacardi bottle inside his sweatshirt.
Police say Simon-Lopez struck Officer Julio Mancilla twice in the arm and fought with officers as they attempted to take him into custody. Authorities determined the missing child report was false after detectives located the baby safe with a caretaker.
A Death Threat And A Head-Butt At Headquarters
Per Chief Beck, Simon-Lopez also gave officers a false name during the encounter and threatened to find an officer's home address and kill him. The confrontation didn't end on Broad Avenue — police say Simon-Lopez later head-butted Officer Fernando Saint-Hilaire at police headquarters, according to the chief's account.
Simon-Lopez was taken to Holy Name Hospital for evaluation before being transferred to Bergen County Sheriff's Department custody and lodged in the Bergen County Jail in Hackensack.
Charges Carry Years In State Prison
Simon-Lopez faces two counts of aggravated assault on a law enforcement officer, along with resisting arrest, false public alarms, disorderly conduct, hindering apprehension, terroristic threats, and obstruction. Under New Jersey statute, assaulting a police officer performing official duties elevates a simple assault to a fourth-degree crime carrying up to 18 months in prison, or a third-degree crime carrying three to five years if the officer suffers bodily injury, according to Villani & DeLuca, P.C..
The false public alarms charge also carries serious weight. Knowingly transmitting a false report of a crime or emergency is a third-degree indictable offense punishable by three to five years in state prison and fines up to $15,000, per Lubiner Schmidt and Palumbo. Separately, making terroristic threats — including threatening to kill someone to induce imminent fear of death — is also a third-degree crime carrying up to five years, with New Jersey courts requiring prosecutors to show the suspect acted with conscious disregard that the threat would be taken seriously, as discussed in the linked NJ Terroristic Threats Lawyer | NJ Criminal Defense Attorneys page that followed the U.S. Supreme Court's Counterman v. Colorado ruling.
Federal Detainer Adds Another Layer
On October 10, Immigration and Customs Enforcement lodged a detainer against Simon-Lopez. Bergen County ended its formal contract to hold ICE detainees at the county jail back in late 2021 after state legislation banned such local agreements, according to Norris McLaughlin.
Palisades Park is home to a long-established Guatemalan immigrant community alongside its prominent Korean-American population, with local organizations such as Community of Friends in Action providing labor outreach and other services in the borough, according to the group's own published materials.
Latest In A String Of Officer Safety Incidents
This is not the first time in recent months that Palisades Park officers have faced physical violence on the job. Chief Beck publicly addressed officer safety concerns last month after another suspect physically fought two Palisades Park officers during a traffic stop on Route 46 — a case Hoodline detailed in its report, Palisades Park DWI Stop Ends in Officer Injuries, Arrest.
