'America's Most Wanted' Subject Charged In Berkeley Stabbing

BERKELEY, NJ — A man with a checkered past was charged with attempted murder several days after a stabbing in Berkeley that left a man in critical condition, the Ocean County Prosecutor's Office announced Tuesday. An investigation determined that Angelo Grenci stabbed the victim Saturday evening during an altercation, according to authorities.

The victim — Carlton Williams, of Seaside Heights — remains in critical condition as of Tuesday morning at the Robert Wood Johnson Medical Center in New Brunswick.

Grenci, who has an extensive criminal history, had been released from his most recent prison sentence in February for a May 2016 conviction on robbery and theft charges.

Grenci's Past

Grenci gained national attention in May 2004, when he was profiled on an episode of "America's Most Wanted" in connection with an August 2002 fight at an apartment in Berkeley Township, where he and another man were accused of aggravated assault and burglary, according to a document summarizing the case.

According to those documents, Grenci and some friends, responding to a threat/dare issued by another man, forced their way into the man's apartment.

Once inside, Grenci and another man beat the man with empty beer bottles, then as he left, Grenci tried to run the man down with his car, but did not succeed.

Grenci was arrested, but between the time of his initial indictment on the charges in June 2003 and his trial in the case at the end of July 2003, he took off for Mexico, where he lived in the shadows. Grenci's case went to trial without him and he was convicted in absentia of second-degree burglary, aggravated assault and simple assault and sentenced to 24 years in prison, 85 percent to be served without parole.

Grenci was captured in February 2005 in Mexico and extradited to New Jersey, where he was sentenced to five years in prison for bail jumping, in addition to the previous sentence from the July 2003 trial. But he appealed the assault and burglary convictions, claiming he hadn't been properly advised of changes in the charges against him. The state Supreme Court overturned the conviction in February 2009 and ordered a new trial, and Grenci subsequently pleaded guilty and was resentenced in August 2009, according to state Department of Corrections records.

He wrote a book about his crimes, titled "Inabsentia," while he was in prison and for a time was trying to counsel at-risk youth to avoid following his path. Read more: Lure Of Crime Keeps Sucking In Ex-'America's Most Wanted' Fugitive

Less than six weeks after finishing a sentence in 2015, Grenci was charged in connection with a bank robbery in Toms River. He spent nearly four more years in custody and was released Feb. 21 from prison.

Saturday's Alleged Incident

Police responded Saturday evening to a stabbing on Magnolia Avenue in the Manitou Park section of town. Authorities found Williams with a stab wound in his neck.

Detectives executed a search warrant Tuesday on Grenci's home. Officials took him to the Ocean County Jail pending a detention hearing.

"Each and every officer and detective involved in this investigation acted quickly and professionally in solving this horrendous crime," said Prosecutor Bradley D. Billhimer. "Through their tenacity and dedication, a very dangerous individual is now off the streets."

Billhimer and Berkeley Police Chief Karin DiMichele acknowledged the following for their collaborative efforts: OCPO's Major Crimes Unit, Ocean County Regional SWAT Team, Berkeley PD Detective Bureau, Toms River Township Police Department, Ocean County Sheriff’s Office Crime Scene Investigation Unit, Ocean County Department of Corrections, State of New Jersey Department of Corrections and New Jersey State Parole Board.

With reporting from Karen Wall/Patch

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