Quote:

Who are these hallway cops, and how come I don't have them in my building?

Beaten, strangled in home, hallway cops seize suspect

Friday, May 16, 2008
By MICHAELANGELO CONTE
JOURNAL STAFF WRITER

A Jersey City man was arrested Wednesday after beating and strangling another man, reports said.

Thomas Sheridan, 55, of Jersey City, was arrested on Clifton Place near Fairmount Avenue just before 5 p.m. and charged with aggravated assault.

The 61-year-old victim told police he came home to find Sheridan, an acquaintance, in his apartment, and that when he told him to leave, Sheridan began hitting him.

The victim banged on a neighbor's door and yelled, "Please call police. I feel weak and he is going to kill me," reports said.

Moments later, the pair were fighting in the hallway. A witness told police that Sheridan threw the resident to the ground and "started hitting him with his fist in the face, and then he started strangling him, and that's when I jumped in and broke it up."

Police found the victim lying in a hallway bleeding from his head, reports said. They then located Sheridan in a nearby alley leaning against a wall and also bleeding from the head.

Appearing "highly intoxicated," Sheridan told police he was defending himself.

Inside the victim's apartment, police found a hypodermic syringe and heroin wrappers, as well as blood splattered around the apartment, reports said.

The victim was taken to the Jersey City Medical Center.