A Newark man who was waving a machete on a downtown Hoboken street Sunday afternoon was arrested, police said.
Just before 3 p.m. on May 31, Hoboken police received a call about a man brandishing a machete in the area of the Hoboken Terminal, Lt. Danilo Cabrera said.
The man, later identified as 36-year-old Razhem Smith, was with a second man when he was located at 3:15 p.m. and approached by Hoboken Detective Edward Lepre in front of 59 Newark St.
With his weapon drawn, Lepre watched as Smith swung the machete above his head. When Lepre ordered him to drop the machete, Smith tossed the machete over a fence.
Both men puts their hands in the air and were ordered to their knees as backup arrived in the form of Lt. Corrado Allegretta, Sgt. Josue Velez, Sgt. David Olivera, Detective Bret Globke, Detective Michael Losurdo, Officer Joshua Campoverde, Officer Mark Aurigemma, Officer Michael Aviles, and Officer Bernardo Munoz. Aviles placed the suspect under arrest.
Smith was searched and police recovered drug paraphernalia. He was charged with disorderly conduct, possession of weapon for unlawful purpose, unlawful possession of a weapon and possession of drug paraphernalia. Smith, who was committed to Hudson County jail, also had a warrant out of Newark for failure to appear.
Jamar Cobb, who was Smith, was charged with possession of marijuana and possession of drug paraphernalia, Cabrera said.
The machete was retrieved by police.
The incident is the second involved a machete in Hoboken in the past two weeks. A Jersey City man was arrested last month, police said, for chasing a man with a machete after an argument.