'Boxer' faces charges in brutal street beating

Tuesday, December 23, 2008

A man who claimed to be a boxer was arrested Sunday night in the Jersey City Heights after beating a man unconscious, police reports said.

Santos D. Santiago, 29, of Central Avenue, was charged with aggravated assault, obstructing the law and government function, and resisting arrest.

Flagged down by a motorist at about 7:45 p.m., two police officers found a 26-year-old man with blood gushing from his head lying on the ground at Central Avenue and Paterson Plank Road, reports said.

A witness at the scene pointed out Santiago as the person who had just punched and kicked the victim, reports said.

Santiago ran and ignored police orders to stop running, reports said. Cops caught up with him at Seventh Street between Paterson Plank Road and Kennedy Boulevard and, after a struggle, arrested him, reports said.

After being arrested, Santiago told the police, "I knocked him (the victim) out. I'm a boxer. My fists are my weapons," reports said.

The victim, who drifted in and out of consciousness, was listed in stable condition Sunday night at Christ Hospital, reports said.

Santiago was treated at Jersey City Medical Center for a swollen and bloodied right hand, reports said.

CHARLES HACK