Man accused of killing 4-year-old, mom shot by police

Shot last night as he lunged at a Hackensack police officer, Jose Ronald Santos-Alvarez, 26, will be returned to Hudson County to face charges he murdered his estranged girlfriend and their 4-year-old son when he receives medical clearance, the Hudson County Prosecutor’s Office said this afternoon.

The police officer attempted to arrest the suspect at a house in Hackensack at about 7:30 p.m. Two women, who told the officer the suspect was not in the house, were also arrested and charged with hindering the investigation. Santos-Alvarez’s condition wasn’t immediately known. The Hudson County Prosecutor’s Office issued a warrant for Santos-Alvarez Saturday. “They were advised no one was in the apartment, but as they went further, they realized someone was in the back and it was the suspect”.

The officer suffered minor wounds, according to police.

As officers moved into a tiny kitchen area in the back of the left side of the duplex residence, Molinelli said, they cornered Santos-Alvarez, who he said was armed with an 8- or 9-inch knife and became combative. He was wounded after lunging at a law enforcement officer with a knife, authorities said. There were a lot of police officers in a very small kitchen area.

Mordaga said earlier reports that an officer had been stabbed in the hand were not true. They were both taken to the hospital where they were pronounced dead a short time later, authorities said.

The Medical Examiner determined Monika M. Potoczniak was strangled to death and Christopher was suffocated.