An uncooperative stabbing victim couldn’t keep Englewood police from identifying his assailant — an ex-con who authorities said was carrying a gun when he was captured by their Teaneck colleagues.
Tahref L. Folkes, 33, tried to duck them but was chased down shortly before noon Wednesday, police said.
They also recovered a handgun that they said he stashed in a local store during the foot pursuit.
Folkes, who has a lengthy rap sheet dating back to 2009, was released from state prison last July after serving 5½ years on a second career gun conviction, records show.
A third would put him away for considerably longer.
For now, Folkes will remain held in the Bergen County Jail with no opportunity for release under bail reform because of his record.
Here’s what happened:
It was around 7:30 p.m. June 5 when a 30-year-old man was stabbed during a dispute near the corner of Park and Englewood avenues, Englewood Police Lt. Fred Pulice said.
The victim — who said he’d previously moved from Englewood to Connecticut — was taken to Holy Name Medical Center in Teaneck via private vehicle, the lieutenant said.
Detectives tried interviewing him after he was treated, Pulice said, but the victim refused to tell them what happened.
It didn’t matter in the end.
Investigative work that included a review of area surveillance video led to the identification of Folkes, a former Englewood resident who lives in Teaneck.
An arrest warrant was obtained and an alert was issued for Folkes, who’s more than familiar to area police.
Folkes had a prior robbery conviction when he was arrested in early 2017 with an AR-15 assault rifle stashed in a bedroom closet and a semi-automatic handgun stuffed into a sock at his mother’s home.
SEE: Englewood Ex-Con Charged With Having Assault Rifle, Ammo
Teaneck Police Officer James Hoover was working a traffic detail when he spotted Folkes West Englewood Avenue and immediately alerted headquarters at 11:15 a.m. Wednesday, Teaneck Police Chief Andrew McGurr said.
Officers converged on the area and found Folkes a few blocks away near Westgate Road.
Folkes ran, scaled a fence and dashed along the back of the Walgreens shopping complex, the chief said.
Eventually, police spotted him exiting the Ricciardi Brothers paint store on Teaneck Road and entering the Metro PCS store, McGurr said.
They went in and arrested him without further incident, the chief said.
Following interviews of witnesses, a review of area security video and an intensive search, officers found a .380 Taurus PT 738 handgun that Folkes had stashed in the paint store.
Teaneck police charged Folkes with resisting arrest, obstruction and weapons offenses – including possessing a firearm as a convicted felon.
Englewood police charged him with aggravated assault and illegal weapons possession, among other offenses.
Folkes was sent to the Bergen County Jail to await an initial appearance in Central Judicial Processing Court in Hackensack.The Bergen County Sheriff’s Bureau of Criminal Identification, meanwhile, was researching whether the gun had been used in another crime.
