LONG BRANCH — A verbal argument that turned physical has left two Long Branch men hospitalized with stab wounds, according to police reports.
On July 17 at approximately 5:50 p.m., the Long Branch Police Department received a report of subjects fighting with knives at a multifamily dwelling on Liberty Street.
City officers learned that 15 to 20 people attended a party on Liberty Street, and two residents of the apartment began verbally arguing.
Both subjects armed themselves with kitchen knives and allegedly stabbed each other in the abdomen, police said.
A third subject, who lives in the apartment, attempted to break up the fight and was cut with a knife on the lower right arm, according to reports.
Miguel Martinez, 39, and Felix Jiminez, 44, were charged with aggravated assault with a weapon, unlawful possession of a weapon and possession of a weapon with unlawful purpose.
The men were transported to Monmouth Medical Center in Long Branch, and Martinez was taken immediately from the emergency room to the operating room for his internal injuries, according to reports.
He is currently admitted to the hospital under the custody of the Monmouth County Sheriff’s Department and bail has been set at $15,000 with no 10 percent option.
Jiminez was treated at the hospital and released to the Long Branch Police Department. His bail was set at $20,000 with no 10 percent option and he was transported to the Monmouth County Correctional Institution in Freehold.
The man who tried to break up the fight received several stitches to his wound and was later released, police said.

