Authorities say they have arrested the man accused of attacking his ex-girlfriend at her Jersey City home and forcing her out a third-floor window while she was holding her infant in her arms Friday morning.
The Hudson County prosecutor's office said police barricaded and apprehended Frederico Bruno, 19, in Belleville, N.J. Friday evening. He was found inside a refrigerator in a vacant building near where his siblings live.
Bruno's family members said he went to their home after the alleged attack and slept for most of the day. When he woke up, he told his teenage niece and nephews what had happened.
He claimed his ex-girlfriend was trying to stab him while holding their baby, family members told NBC 4 New York. That's when he pushed her and the child out the window, and fled.
Police say Bruno had a key to his ex-girlfriend's Jersey City apartment and had been hiding inside Friday morning, waiting for her to get home. When she returned with her baby, who is also the suspect's child, and a friend, Bruno allegedly attacked her.
Both the 20-year-old mother and the 3-month-old baby are hospitalized in critical condition, police said.
The 21-year-old friend threatened to call 911 and Bruno allegedly turned on her, slicing her up with a household cutting device and leaving her for dead, police said. Then he ran down the fire escape and, with a table, continued to assault the mother of his child, who was lying on the ground on top of her baby after the two plunged three stories out the window, police said.
"I know he's always had a bad temper but I never thought he could do this," said Bruno's niece, 17-year-old Ahsley Archelus. "To a baby? How could he do this to his own baby?"
The friend is in surgery at a nearby hospital. She's listed in critical condition.
Police cordoned off the area surrounding the four-story building on Rutgers Avenue as they searched for Bruno, whom they called armed and dangerous.
The mother of the child had an order of protection against him, authorities said.
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Bruno is facing three counts of aggravated assault charges. Bail was set at $300,000 for each count. It wasn't clear if he had an attorney.
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