A man is in custody and a female victim is alive, thanks to the timely response of three troopers and the assistance of a swift dispatcher.
Rarely it’s a victim being attacked with a knife when troopers enter the scene, but that’s what happened on Friday the 13th of May in Wantage Township.
Troopers from Sussex Station responded to a 911 call in which a woman could be heard screaming, but no one spoke to operators. When they arrived at the residence, through a locked door they heard a woman still screaming and pleading. They broke down the door to find Christopher Davidson, 41, of Newton on top of a woman with a large knife to her throat. She was bleeding from her face and her forearm.
Troopers ordered Davidson to drop the knife as they charged in, but he continued to slash at the woman. Without concern for their own safety, troopers knocked him off the victim, wrestled him to the ground, and got the knife away from him.
Davidson was charged with aggravated assault, weapons offenses, resisting arrest, and criminal mischief (for major damage done in the residence before the attack). He was lodged in Sussex County jail on $100,000 full cash bail.
Davidson was evaluated at the hospital before being transported to jail.
Among the responding officers were troopers, Sgt. Bill Cisko, Tpr. I Rick Nugnes, and Tpr. Rob Hunt (reverse order in photo).
Trooper Tim Praschil who learned that the 911 call had no listed address, performed a quick cross reference to find that the number was in the system from a previous call, directing the troopers to the right home.