Last night’s stabbing outside of the Lakewood Police headquarters is believed to be related to a drug deal, police say.

At about 10:25 pm last night, Officer Joseph Mandelbaum heard an unknown voice calling out to him as he was pulling into the parking lot of police headquarters off Third Street. Upon exiting his patrol car, he located a man who stated that he had just been stabbed by an unknown black male but could not provided an exact location. Officer Mandelbaum relayed the information to other area units while Officer Conner Woods, now on scene, provided first aid while waiting the arrival of emergency medical technicians from Lakewood EMS.

Officer Mark Gibson began checking the area to try and locate the suspect and/or a location where the stabbing took place. After several minutes, Officer Gibson located what he believed to be blood droplets on Third Street and began following them back to an alleyway near 245 Second Street.

Further investigation suggests that the victim, 54 year old Ruben Vazquez Jr. of Lakewood, may have been engaged in an illegal drug transaction when the stabbing took place. Anyone with information is urged to contact Det. Patrick Kearns at 732-363-0200 ext. 5338

The suspect is described as a black male wearing all black clothing.