Jersey City Heights woman is charged with stabbing brother; doctors are fighting to save his foot

Thursday, July 28, 2011, 3:03 AM
By Michaelangelo Conte/The Jersey Journal



A Jersey City Heights woman has been charged with stabbing her brother and the victim is at risk of losing his foot, officials said yesterday.

Patricia Ann Lavacchi, 37, of Central Avenue, is charged with aggravated assault on her brother, tampering with evidence, obstructing a government function, resisting arrest, weapons offenses and disorderly conduct, reports said.

PATRICIA ANN LAVACCHI makes her first appearance at Central Judicial Processing court in Jersey City after being charged with stabbing her brother in the foot.

Her bail was set yesterday at $100,000 with a 10 percent option when she made her first appearance on the charges before Judge Richard Nieto in Central Judicial Processing court in Jersey City.

"I stabbed him. He's bleeding," Hudson County Assistant Prosecutor Howard Bell said witnesses quoted Lavacchi as saying during the 11:46 p.m. incident on Wednesday at the family's apartment.

"If I go down, everyone goes down with me," Bell continued, quoting from the police report.

Officers responding to the residence found the 41-year-old man sitting at the top of the second-floor staircase and bleeding heavily from his leg, reports said.

Lavacchi and the victim told police he had been stabbed around the corner but they saw no blood in the hallway, stairs or outside the building, reports said, adding that Lavacchi was very irate.

Once the victim had been taken away by ambulance, the officers went back to Lavacchi's apartment and found her mopping up blood inside, reports said.

When they tried to get more details on the stabbing, reports said Lavacchi shouted, "I told you already . . . I don't have to talk to you . . . Talk to my brother. You (blanking) cops need a (blanking) life. This isn't CSI!"

Lavacchi's other brother then came out of a bedroom with her 2-year-old daughter and said he was awakened by his brother screaming for someone to call the police, reports said.

When the officers tried to continue the investigation, Lavacchi yelled "You need a search warrant to go back there!" and began flailing her arms and cursing, reports said. When she took a fighting stance she was subdued after a struggle and handcuffed, reports said.

"The injuries are quite serious and it looks like the victim is going to lose one of his extremities," Bell said at Lavacchi's 1:30 p.m. court appearance.

The victim was rushed to an area hospital "to see a vascular surgeon for possible loss of left foot," reports said.
Last night, a hospital spokesman said the victim was in stable condition and surgeons and doctors are doing all they can to try to save the foot.

Lavacchi's sister is caring for the defendant's child, Bell said.
Police recovered a folding knife at the scene, said reports, which contained no information about what might have triggered the incident.