FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: Caitlin Mota
PHONE: (201) 577-6699
EMAIL: cmota@hcpo.org
DATE: Thursday, September 19, 2024

MAN CHARGED IN CONNECTION WITH WEEHAWKEN SEXUAL ASSAULT

Hudson County Prosecutor Esther Suarez has released the following information:

The Hudson County Prosecutor’s Office Special Victims Unit has charged a 27-year-old man following a sexual assault that occurred in Weehawken on Tuesday, September 17, 2024.

Shortly before 2 a.m., the Weehawken Police Department received a report of a woman in distress inside an apartment in Port Imperial. Responding officers located a female victim who reported being physically and sexually assaulted by a male at his residence. The Weehawken Police Department identified and apprehended a person of interest, later identified as Dennis Hackett.

Hackett was charged by the Special Victims Unit with Sexual Assault in violation of N.J.S.A. 2C:14-2c(1), Criminal Sexual Contact in violation of N.J.S.A. 2C:14-3b, and Simple Assault in violation of N.J.S.A. 2C:12-1a(3). Hackett was additionally charged by the Weehawken Police Department with Aggravated Assault on a Police Officer in violation of N.J.S.A. 2C:12-1b(5)(a), Throwing Bodily Fluids at a Police Officer in violation of N.J.S.A. 2C:12-13, Resisting Arrest in violation of N.J.S.A. 2C:29-2a(1), and Criminal Restraint in violation of N.J.S.A. 2C:13-2b. Hackett is being detained at the Hudson County Correctional Facility pending a Detention Motion, which is tentatively scheduled for September 23, 2024.

Prosecutor Suarez credited the Special Victims Unit and the Weehawken Police Department with the investigation and arrested. Anyone wishing to report a sex crime should call the Hudson County Prosecutor’s Office Special Victims Unit (SVU) at 201-915-1234. The above charges are merely accusations and the defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty. R.P.C.3.6(b)(6)