Bergen County Man Assaulted Girl In His Care: Prosecutors

TEANECK, NJ — A Teaneck man was arrested after he squeezed the neck of a child who was under his care, prosecutors said Thursday.

Miguel Mejia, 64, was charged with aggravated assault, child abuse, and refusal to submit to DNA collection, said the Bergen County Prosecutor's Office.

On Tuesday, the Teaneck Police Department contacted the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office Special Victims Unit regarding the physical assault of a child, officials said.

A joint investigation determined that Mejia assaulted and abused the child. When he was arrested, he refused to provide a DNA sample, although one was required by law, prosecutors said.

According to the police complaint in the case, Mejia attempted to cause "serious bodily injury, specifically by applying pressure to the neck of the victim."

The complaint says that police responded to a home on Park Avenue just before 11 p.m. on Monday, on a report of a dispute.

According to the complaint, police determined that the verbal dispute between Mejia and a girl under 18 had turned physical.

The girl had a vertical laceration on the right side of her face, with "noticeable swelling," police said.

At the hospital, the victim said Mejia strangled her and hit her in the face multiple times, the complaint says.

Mejia was taken to the Bergen County Jail to await a first appearance in Bergen County Superior Court in Hackensack, police said.