Man Sentenced In Screwdriver Stabbing Of Lyft Driver, Woman In Clark

CLARK, NJ — A Bloomfield man, who stabbed a Lyft driver and a passenger with a screwdriver in the head and face in Clark, was sentenced to 29 years in state prison for the 2019 attack, Union County Prosecutor William A. Daniel announced Tuesday.

Farrakhan Howard, 31, was previously convicted in November 2022 of attempting to murder a Lyft driver and assaulting another passenger before carjacking the vehicle in April 2019.

Union County Superior Court Judge Thomas Isenhour imposed the term on Howard, handing down a 24-year sentence on his carjacking conviction, an 18-year concurrent sentence on the attempted murder, and a 5-year consecutive sentence for the aggravated assault on the passenger, this past Friday.

Howard must serve at least 85 percent of the 24-year term on the carjacking before the possibility of parole on that count, then must serve the additional 5-year term before being eligible for release Judge Isenhour ruled.

At around 1 a.m. on April 24, 2019, Clark Police Officers found a 47-year-old man lying in the middle of Westfield Avenue bleeding from stab wounds and lacerations to his head, face and neck, according to Assistant Prosecutor Izabella Wozniak who prosecuted the case along with Assistant Prosecutor Alexandra Pecora. Read More: Man Stabbed Lyft Driver, Passenger With Screwdriver In Clark: CPD

Soon after, Rahway Police Officers found a 20-year-old woman was also located on Westfield Avenue suffering from stab wounds and scratches to her face and head, Wozniak said.

Testimony presented during the trial revealed that Howard was inside the Lyft vehicle with the female passenger. At some point during the trip, Howard assaulted and stabbed the woman.

At that point, the Lyft driver stopped the vehicle to help the woman and Howard stabbed him several times before carjacking the vehicle, according to testimony at trial.

Both victims were able to escape before being found by Clark and Rahway officers.

Howard drove off and was eventually arrested and charged after crashing the victim’s vehicle in Woodbridge.