An Essex man has been found guilty of assault of a Lyft driver and passenger in Clark before carjacking in April 2019Union County District Attorney William A. Daniel announced.
Farrakhan Howard, 30, of Bloomfield was found guilty of first-degree carjacking, first-degree attempted murder, second-degree aggravated assault, third-degree aggravated assault, third-degree unlawful possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose and fourth-degree unlawful possession of a weapon. after a four-week trial before Union County Superior Court Judge Thomas C. Isenhour. The jury deliberated for about eight hours before reaching its verdict, Daniel said.
Clark police arrived around 1 a.m. on April 24, 2019, to the area of Westfield Avenue and found a 47-year-old man bleeding from stab wounds and cuts to his head, face and neck, according to Assistant Prosecutors Isabella Wozniak and Alex Pecora. who handled the case. Officers from the Rahway Police Department found the 20-year-old woman a short time later, who also had a stab wound to the head and a scratch on her neck, Wozniak and Pecora said.
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Testimony presented during the trial showed that Howard was in a Lyft vehicle with a female passenger, and at some point during the ride, Howard attacked and stabbed the victim. The Lyft driver then stopped the vehicle to help the woman, and Howard stabbed him several times before driving the vehicle over, according to the affidavit.
Both victims were able to run away before being found by Officers Clark and Rahway. According to testimony, Howard drove off and was eventually arrested and charged after crashing the victim’s vehicle in Woodbridge.
Sentencing is scheduled for Dec. 16, when Howard faces up to 30 years in state prison, with 85 percent of that time served.
Email: alewis@gannett.com
