Suspect arrested in apparent random stabbing outside CNBC headquarters

A man has been arrested and charged with attempted murder after a 30-year-old woman was stabbed multiple times last week outside the grounds of CNBC’s headquarters in Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey.

Harshkumar H. Patel, 29, was arrested on Saturday following a police investigation into the attack, the Bergen County Prosecutor Mark Musella’s Office said in a news release.

Patel faces charges of attempted murder in the first degree, one count of second-degree aggravated assault, one count of third degree possession of a weapon and one count of fourth degree possession of a weapon.

The stabbing occurred near the news outlet’s New Jersey building on Friday at 5:34 p.m., officials said. Detectives said that Patel approached the woman while she was in a vehicle exiting a parking lot on Sylvan Avenue, according to the prosecutor’s office.

“The suspect stabbed the victim several times through the open window of the victim’s vehicle before fleeing,” the press release said.

It appears that the woman did not know Patel and the attack was unprovoked, the release said.

A probable cause affidavit obtained by NorthJersey.com states that Patel approached the woman and asked “Are you coming from CNBC?” He then attacked her after she confirmed that she was, according to the outlet.

CNBC is owned by NBCUniversal, the parent company of NBC News.

Authorities have not identified the woman or her place of employment. She was taken by ambulance to Hackensack University Medical Center where she was treated and released, the prosecutor’s office said.

The woman had multiple stab wounds on her upper left arm, according to a complaint filed in the case.

The complaint also said that surveillance video captured footage of the incident, and a witness captured the license plate of the alleged attacker’s car. That information, along with the woman’s description of her attacker, led authorities to Patel, the complaint said.

Patel was in custody at Bergen New Bridge Medical Center as of Sunday and is scheduled for a first appearance via video conferencing on Thursday. It’s unclear if he has retained an attorney.

Tom Winter is a New York-based correspondent covering crime, courts, terrorism and financial fraud on the East Coast for the NBC News Investigative Unit.

Doha Madani contributed.