Seaside Heights Man Admits to Seaside Park Stabbing

Porfirio Serrano-Cruz (Photo: Ocean County Jail)

A man charged in an stabbing incident that left another man severely injured has pleaded guilty to aggravated assault. He had previously been charged with attempted murder.

Porfirio Serrano-Cruz, 40, of Seaside Heights, pled guilty to aggravated assault before Superior Court Judge Kimarie Rahill on Monday, in connection with a stabbing incident that occurred in Seaside Park June 30, 2022. At the time of his sentencing, scheduled for Oct. 27, 2023, prosecutors will be seeking a term of seven years in New Jersey State Prison.

The pleading stems from an incident in which Seaside Park police responded to a residence on O Street in response to a 911 call at about 5:30 a.m. According to prosecutors, the caller stated someone had broken into his residence and tried to kill him. Responding officers found a 39-year-old, male victim with multiple stab wounds to the arms, chest, abdomen and groin, according to the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office. The victim was airlifted to Jersey Shore University Medical Center in Neptune for treatment of his injuries. He was listed in critical condition after the altercation but ultimately survived.

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An investigation by the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office Major Crime Unit, High Tech Crime Unit and Seaside Park police “determined that Serrano-Cruz was the individual responsible for stabbing of the victim,” a statement said. Serrano-Cruz was located later that same day in Seaside Heights and taken into custody, without incident, by officers from the Seaside Heights Police Department. He has been lodged in the Ocean County Jail ever since.

Serrano-Cruz had been indicted on charges of attempted murder, possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose, unlawful posssession of a weapon, burglary, and possession of clonazepam (Klonopin) without a prescription.