SPPD: Man, dog receive minor wounds
in church parking lot stabbing

April 22, 2015
Santa Paula News

Santa Paula Police are still investigating a stabbing incident that involved a man and his dog that were attacked in the parking lot of an area church Thursday evening.

According to SPPD Sgt. Cody Madison, the April 16 incident was reported as a stabbing victim about 8:22 p.m. in the parking lot of a church in the 500 block of West Harvard Boulevard just west of Steckel Drive.

“The reporting party stated they heard a male screaming for help and that the male subject and a dog had been stabbed,” and upon officers arrival they found a 40-year-old man and his dog with stab wounds.

Madison said the victim told police “He was sitting in the parking lot drinking a beer and minding his own business,” when he was approached by two men and “words were exchanged. 

A fight ensued between the victim and one of the subjects and Madison said the man pulled a weapon and stabbed the man in the abdomen and chest; the dog was stabbed in the shoulder area.

Madison said the second suspect did not take an active part in the stabbing and both men fled on foot.

Santa Paula Fire EMTs and ambulance paramedics treated the victim at the scene before he was transported to Ventura County Medical Center; a friend of the victim’s family took the dog, a larger breed animal believed to be a boxer or a pit bull, to an emergency pet hospital in Ventura. 

Madison said both the man and his dog are expected to make a full recovery and the male victim was released from the hospital early Friday morning.

No weapon was recovered: “We’re not even sure what he was stabbed with but my reaction,” based on the wounds, “the same depth, and same width — so I’m thinking box cutter.”

Madison said the victim told police the area was too dark to be able to identity his attackers. 

In a follow-up interview, Madison said the victim, who was staying with a family member, “Said he would not recognize the men again, couldn’t even tell their ethnicity and said the other guy just stood there as he was being attacked. The parking lot is dark but not that dark … ”

Although the victim is known locally as being homeless Madison said “Sometimes he stays with family but he does wander around town quite a bit with his dog, they spend a lot of time in Teague Park,” across the street from where the victim and his dog were attacked.

The victim is known to police related to “alcohol and being in confrontations … whether this was the case this time around we don’t know, he’s saying differently.”

If anyone has any information they are asked to call Madison at 525-4474 x 220.

If you would prefer to remain anonymous, call the SPPD recorded Tip Hotline, 933-5691 or email tips to tipline@spcity.org

Ventura County Crime Stoppers will pay a reward for information that leads to the arrest and criminal complaint against the person(s) responsible for this crime. Call Crime Stoppers at 800-222-TIPS (8477); the call is not recorded and the caller may remain anonymous.

Ventura County Crime Stoppers can also be contacted by texting “Busted” plus your message to CRIMES (274637). 

Crime Stopper Tips can also be sent via the website, www.venturacountycrimestoppers.org 





Site Search

E-Subscribe

Subscribe

E-SUBSCRIBE
Call 805 525 1890 to receive the entire paper early. $50.00 for one year.

webmaster