Man charged in knifing incident - Three people injured, including one who needed 37 staples to close the wound

Monroe - Village Police have charged a 22-year-old man in connection with an early morning melee last month in which three people were stabbed with a knife on Lake Street, including one victim who required 37 staples to close the wound. Manuel Falu, 22, who listed addresses in Middletown and the Bronx, was arrested Monday, July 14. He was charged with three counts of first-degree assault as well as weapons possession charges. He was arraigned and sent to Orange County Jail on $150,000 cash bail. Monroe police have been searching for Falu since the early Sunday, June 29. At 3:20 a.m. that morning, officers arrived on Lake Street in downtown Monroe to find about 100 people fighting in the street. Based on the interviews at the scene, police said it appeared that the fight began inside Manhattan’s bar and then spilled out into the street. Police described the scene as several smaller fights going on simultaneously rather than single large brawl. Still, officers from surrounding agencies were called to assist in dispersing the crowd. While taming the crowd, police said officers found a 24-year-old man from Haverstraw with a severe laceration that went from the top of his head down past his ear. Two other people, also from Haverstraw, also had been slashed in the face, but police said their injuries were not as severe. The three knife victims were treated at the scene by Monroe Volunteer Ambulance Corps, Woodbury Community Ambulance and Mobil Life paramedics and taken to area hospitals for additional treatment. Meanwhile, officers at the scene recovered a bloody knife which they believed was used in the slashing. Police said they were able to identify Falu based on interviews with witnesses at the scene and with the three victims at the hospital and again at police headquarters. Police added that Falu was arrested by Monroe Police in December 2007 at Manhattan’s bar for assaulting another customer. Police said he punched a man, who then fell to the floor, hit his head and lost consciousness. The disposition of that case was not immediately known.