A man was taken into custody Tuesday night after police said he stabbed two people in the face at a Motel 6 in Piscataway.

Police said 40-year-old Jared Skinner had been arrested multiple times since August, with two arrests resulting in felony charges, prior to his arrest on Tuesday. According to police, he was a long-term guest at the Motel 6.

The incident comes as the township prepares to enforce a three-month limit on local motel stays.

“It was never like this,” said Dana Gabriele, co-owner of Gabriele's, a restaurant next door to the Motel 6. “It was always a pretty low-budget motel where people would stay for an affordable vacation, but after COVID, a new owner took over...no security there.”

Anthony Gabriele, the other owner at Gabriele's, said he witnessed the aftermath of Tuesday’s stabbing and called police after encountering one of the victims.

“She comes out with all this blood,” he said. “It was like a nightmare.”

The Piscataway Town Council recently passed an ordinance that does not allow guests to stay at local motels longer than 89 days. However, the law doesn't take effect until May 1.

“That didn’t have to happen,” Dana Gabriele said. “If that ordinance was in place, that gentleman wouldn’t be staying at the hotel.”

Mayor Brian Wahler said police have responded to hundreds of calls in the past two years at the Motel 6 and the nearby Extended Stay motel.

“You have reasonable expectations to have a safe community, and that’s not what’s happening right now,” Wahler said. "You've had over 1,200 calls within the last two years, over 135 assaults of domestic violence against women...that doesn't include the prostitution, the selling of drugs, the theft, the break-ins."

Wahler said the township is working on an additional ordinance that would require motel owners to provide private security, install more surveillance cameras and increase oversight of their properties.

The mayor also said guests who do not cause disturbances may still be granted permission to stay beyond three months under the ordinance.