Jersey City man stabs Hoboken man in dispute over panhandling spot

Tuesday, January 17, 2012, 12:33 PM
By Summer Dawn Hortillosa / The Jersey Journal

A man was stabbed outside CVS Pharmacy, 59 Washington St., Hoboken, police said.

A man was stabbed outside a Hoboken pharmacy Friday after a dispute over who had rights to panhandle there, police said.

At 5:17 p.m., a 49-year-old Hoboken resident said he was trying to panhandle outside CVS, at 59 Washington St., when Donald Styles, 61, of Jersey City, claimed that it was his spot and told the man to find another place to panhandle, reports said.

When the 49-year-old said he just needed money to eat for the night, Styles insisted that he leave and threatened to stab him, reports said.

A CVS employee who heard the dispute momentarily stepped outside to tell the men to stop arguing or he would call police, reports said.

The fight escalated nonetheless and Styles stabbed the Hoboken man in his left upper abdomen with an 8-and-a-half inch serrated kitchen knife, reports said.

While Styles fled, the bleeding victim stumbled into CVS and employees called for help, reports said.

The 49-year-old was first taken to Hoboken Unversity Medical Center (HUMC) where doctors said he sustained a small, but deep wound above his sixth or seventh rib and that his lung was potentially collapsing, reports said. Due to the severity of his wounds, he was taken to Jersey City Medical Center, reports said.

Styles later returned to CVS and employees notified police, reports said. When police arrested Styles and found the blood-stained knife in one of his jacket pockets, Styles said, "I didn't kill the n-----, I just stabbed him," reports said.
Styles said he had difficulty breathing while at the police station and was transported to HUMC, reports said.

Styles was charged with aggravated assault, possession of a weapon with unlawful purposes and unlawful possession of a weapon, reports said.

Yeah, it's definitely City Convenience that shut down, which is too bad because now I have to go an extra block for my weekly supply of Horny Goat Weed and loose cigarettes.

Thanks for the info on Melvin! I always wondered about him. We just knew him as "spare some change", or SSC for short. Definitely a nice guy. I don't often see too many other panhandlers out there with him, but I agree that Paradise definitely doesn't seem to do anything to discourage it in front of their business.

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Oh mabye I'm confusing them. The one I'm thinking of looks like the window treatments are all destroyed, etc. If they're just a block apart that could be the problem. The one I'm thinking of is between Coles and I think second....

I know Melvin too -- and have given money to him -- but he is not often alone -- and most of the others -- who also seem welcome to hang out there -- are very aggressive!

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The shorter, older gentlemen outside Paradise Deli's name is Melvin and he is defnitely harmless.

I've lived in JC for around 15 years and he's been there as long as I can remember.

I learned from a JC Cop that Melvin is a lifelong JC resident and that when he was young, suffered a devastating brain injury.

He sometimes can be annoying, but is not a threat in any capacity.

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Wow, I have to go there to try the "Plane Egg Sandwich".

I noticed City Convenience one block down is closed. Over the past few weeks his inventory was getting more and more sparse, so I kinda saw that one coming. Perhaps you're thinking of that place?

And about the panhandler, I think Spare Some Change guy is actually the friendliest panhandler I've ever encountered. He's anything but aggressive. He's polite, always says "have a good night" even if you don't give him anything and is just generally polite about it. I secretly think he's just an older guy with nothing to to do so he goes out and fills his time asking for change. He never looks unkempt or filthy. I'd take him any day over the crackheads in the shopping cart flinging around broken glass bottles that hang out in front of 24/7.....

You would be hard pressed to spend $12 on 2 sandwiches and drinks -- but maybe that includes giving change to the homeless guys they let hang out front aggressively panhandling 24/7.

(menu click link below)

http://paradisedelillc.com/menu.html

lmao at that groupon

$12 gets you two sandwiches/wraps/combo and 2 drinks....

uh...

That's normal price fellas.

It's definitely not closed.

Is Paradise deli closed? I walked by it twice last week and from the looks of it I would swear i was out of business. But then today I saw a groupon for the place (http://www.groupon.com/r/uu824939 - not that I'd ever think of going there for a sandwich anyway, but whatever).

Anyone know if this place is actually open? THey were a good late-night emergency spot.