LONG BRANCH, N.J. — Long Branch Patrolman Geter Benitez was injured after running toward a woman under attack and tackling the alleged assailant during an early-morning domestic-violence response, according to a July 20 report by The Link News.
The local account said Patrolmen Benitez and Franzblau responded to a domestic-violence complaint at about 4:40 a.m. Saturday, July 18. ThinBlueNews is withholding the precise residential address published by the source to avoid unnecessarily identifying the victim’s location.
Benitez ran toward the victim’s screams
While officers spoke with the people involved, a man allegedly began stabbing a woman with a large knife, the report said. Benitez heard her screams, ran toward the attack and tackled the man away from her.
During the struggle to make the arrest, the man allegedly stabbed Benitez in the head, causing a serious laceration. Franzblau, Patrolman Guzman and a civilian who stepped in to help then took the man into custody, according to the local account.
Patrolman Otten transported Benitez to Monmouth Medical Center. The Link News published photographs showing the wounded officer receiving support from colleagues and preparing to go home. ThinBlueNews is not adding medical details or a prognosis beyond the public report.
City praises officers and civilian helper
The City of Long Branch commended Benitez, Franzblau and Guzman. The report described Benitez’s intervention as decisive action that protected the victim from a potentially lethal assault.
“Officer Benitez put his life on the line to protect one of our residents from what could have been a deadly assault.”
Long Branch Mayor John Pallone, quoted by The Link News
The arrest also depended on teamwork: one officer moved the injured Benitez toward medical care while other officers and a Good Samaritan completed the arrest. The episode is a fresh example of the danger officers can face during domestic-violence calls and the split-second decisions required to protect victims.
Attempted-murder charges filed
The Link News identified the arrested man as Faustino Leiva and reported that he was charged with two counts of attempted murder, unlawful possession of a weapon and possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose. A separate Daily Voice report, visible in Google News and the publisher’s public sitemap, also reported that a Long Branch officer was stabbed while saving a woman from a knife attack.
The charges are allegations. The accused is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty in court. This article focuses on the publicly documented actions of the responding officers and civilian helper and does not speculate about the pending criminal case.
Readers can find more source-backed stories about officers protecting people in danger in ThinBlueNews’ police hero stories, police rescue news and law enforcement news coverage.
Sources, visual and video notes
- The Link News: “Long Branch Police Officer Injured While Stopping Violent Domestic Attack; Suspect Charged With Attempted Murder,” published July 20, 2026. ThinBlueNews directly inspected the full article text, publication date, captions and city statement.
- Daily Voice: “Long Branch Officer Stabbed In Head While Saving Woman From Knife Attack, Union Says,” published July 19, 2026. The publisher blocked direct article retrieval during this run, but the exact canonical URL was verified in its public Long Branch sitemap and the title/date were independently visible in Google News RSS.
- City of Long Branch official Police Department page.
Featured-image note: The Link News displayed real hospital photographs of Patrolman Benitez, but its site states “All Rights Reserved” and did not present a reuse license on the inspected article. ThinBlueNews did not republish those images. The featured visual is a clearly labeled typography-only editorial card and does not imply that it depicts the officer, victim, suspect or incident.
Video note: The directly inspected local report and corroborating search records did not identify official bodycam, dashcam or incident footage. This is not a video-led story, so no video embed was required.
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