A verbal argument in the parking lot of Westfield Garden State Plaza escalated Tuesday night into a man repeatedly ramming his SUV into another vehicle before fleeing on foot, according to authorities. Daniel J. Leandry, 29, of Hackensack, was arrested in connection with the incident and now faces charges including aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.
Paramus Police Chief Robert M. Guidetti said Leandry was arrested following the incident at the mall on Tuesday, Oct. 20, according to Daily Voice. Officers responded around 9:01 p.m. to the mall's south parking lot near the former Best Buy store for a dispute involving two vehicles, the outlet reported.
Police said the occupants of a white Mercedes-Benz had gotten into a verbal argument with a man who then rammed a gray Ford Escape into their vehicle multiple times. The driver fled before officers arrived, leaving the damaged Escape behind.
Suspect Found Walking Blocks From the Scene
Westfield security helped police track down the damaged Ford Escape in the Chili's parking lot at 75 Route 17 South, but the driver was already gone by the time officers got there, per the same account. Officer Joe Mastrofilipo later spotted a man matching the suspect's description walking along Fairfield Drive, leading to Leandry's arrest and transport to Paramus police headquarters.
Leandry was charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, criminal mischief and simple assault, the report notes. He also received several motor vehicle summonses, including one for driving with a suspended license. Paramus EMS evaluated one of the Mercedes-Benz occupants at the scene, who declined medical attention.
A Criminal History Spanning More Than a Decade
New Jersey court records show Leandry's criminal history stretches back more than a decade, the article states. Those records indicate he has faced numerous previous cases involving assault, robbery, theft, criminal mischief, harassment, and alleged violations of domestic violence restraining orders.
Among the prior cases was a 2022 Clifton Municipal Court matter involving an aggravated assault charge. In 2016, Leandry faced cases in Garfield involving robbery and aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, along with cases in Hanover involving alleged violations of a domestic violence restraining order, the outlet reported.
Police also said Leandry was arrested in April after allegedly grabbing a large knife and threatening a family member during an argument over cleaning the kitchen.
What New Jersey Law Says About the Charges
Under New Jersey statute 2C:12-1, a person may be guilty of aggravated assault when they attempt to cause, or purposely or knowingly cause, bodily injury to another with a deadly weapon, or recklessly cause such injury with a deadly weapon. The statutory language provided is only a partial excerpt and should not be treated as a complete statement of the law.
Separately, New Jersey's criminal mischief statute, 2C:17-3, provides that a person is guilty of the offense if they purposely or knowingly damage another person's property, or do so recklessly or negligently through fire, explosives or other dangerous means outlined in the statute. As with the assault statute, the excerpt available is truncated and does not represent the full legal text.
