West Deptford Man Arrested in Red Bank Run Stabbing

A West Deptford man with a history of domestic violence has been arrested and charged with attempted murder in connection with the stabbing of his girlfriend at Red Bank Run Wednesday night, police said Thursday.

Jacob Rodriguez, 34, surrendered to law enforcement officials from several jurisdictions in Runnemede at 10:16 p.m. Wednesday night, after fleeing the scene in a Mercury immediately after allegedly attacking his girlfriend, Brittany L. Hickman, 26, at unit R7 in the complex, where the two lived with their children.

Rodriguez, who served time in state prison for a previous conviction for aggravated assault with a weapon, had been charged with stalking and harassment on June 23 of last year, and Hickman took out a temporary restraining order against him, though that restraining order was later withdrawn. The stalking and harassment charges were remanded to West Deptford's municipal court, where they were put on a six-month hold on Jan. 18, and would have been dismissed had no other incidents occurred.

Hickman, who was critically injured in the attack, was found semiconscious and bleeding on a doorstep outside the R building at the complex by police, where she had reached a neighbor, who called 911.

Two children in the household, a 5-year-old son of Hickman’s and a 2-year-old daughter, who is the child of Hickman and Rodriguez, have been placed through the state Division of Youth and Family Services with relatives.

The incident is being investigated by the West Deptford Police Department and the Gloucester County Prosecutor’s Office major crimes unit, assisted by the GCPO crime scene and fugitive units.

Rodriguez is being held in the Gloucester County Jail in Woodbury in default of $200,000 bail on attempted murder and weapons charges.