Man Threatens Nutley Police Officer with Knife

A Nutley man was taken into custody after threatening a police officer with a knife, Nutley police said.

Police responded to a Franklin Avenue apartment complex around 10:30 am Oct. 6 on a report that a man attacked a resident of the complex. While police were speaking to the suspect, 46-year-old Dragos Chihaia, he pulled out a steak knife concealed in the back of his pants, then raised it over his head, threatening an officer with it, Nutley police said.

The officer persuaded Chihaia to lower the knife, then arrested him on assault and weapons charges. He was taken to a psychiatric facility in East Orange for evaluation. 

Later on that date, at 8 pm, a man driving a red Ford pickup with an extended cab and a flat rear tire approached a group of girls walking on the sidewalk, yelling “my brother is hurt and I can’t get him to the hospital now.” When the girls offered to call the police, the man refused. When the girls began walking in another direction, the man turned his car around and asked the girls to send a message using his phone because he did not know how.

The girls called police, who searched the area but did not find the man. He is described as a white male in his mid-30s, with short, dark spiked hair and was wearing a dark blue shirt and jeans.

Neighboring towns were also notified of the incident, police said.