Howell taxi driver attack sends two suspects to ICE custody

🔪 A taxi driver was slashed in the face and carjacked in Howell last month

🚔 Now, police have arrested a 19-year-old suspect and turned over two Mexican nationals to ICE’s Newark field office

📍 The violent carjacking began with a taxi pickup in Neptune and ended with arrests across Monmouth County

HOWELL — Two Mexican nationals have been turned over to Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Newark field office after being charged in the attack on a taxi driver near a park last month, the Howell Police Department announced on social media.

Taxi driver slashed, car stolen near Oak Glen Park

On Jan. 16 at 11:15 p.m., a Howell police officer on patrol found a man bleeding from his face on Old Tavern Road.

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The 46-year-old cab driver, who works for an Asbury Park taxi company, told police he was slashed in the face with a knife by one of two Hispanic male passengers, who also stole his vehicle.

Investigation traces violent carjacking back to Neptune pickup

The investigation revealed that the two unidentified men grabbed a taxi ride in Neptune, and when they were dropped off at a parking lot across from the entrance to Oak Glen Park, one of the suspects took out a knife and slashed the cabbie in the face.

The stolen taxi was found abandoned on Maxim Road shortly after the attack.

FBI task force arrest leads to ICE involvement

Further investigation led to the identification of one of the involved carjackers as Melvin J. Cruz-Salmoran, 19, a Mexican national, living in Neptune Township.

On Feb. 3, Howell police and members of the FBI’s Jersey Shore Safe Streets Task Force arrested Cruz-Salmoran at a home in Neptune, despite several people trying to hide him.

He was charged with first-degree carjacking, second-degree aggravated assault, third-degree aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, and third-degree possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose.

Also taken into custody were two other Mexican nationals, 27-year-old Jose Luis Acavedo Jimenez, who faces immigration charges for lying to federal agents, and Jovanni Cruz-Salmoran, 29, who was arrested on a warrant of removal after the FBI contacted ICE and confirmed his status.

A woman, Jennifer Lopez, 22, of Neptune, was also arrested and faces local charges of providing false information to authorities.

Acavedo Jimenez and Jovanni Cruz-Salmoran were taken to ICE’s Newark field office for processing.

Lopez was released pending a future court appearance.

Melvin Cruz-Salmoran was taken to the Monmouth County Correctional Institution.
The investigation continues.

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