HollyMatkinWheaton, MD – A man was slashed and stabbed by an illegal immigrant after he told the man to quit urinating in public.
Montgomery County Police Department (MCPD) officers were dispatched to the Wheaton Metro bus turnaround at approximately 11 p.m. on Nov. 30, 2017, WJLA reported.
They arrived to find the victim with stab wounds to his neck, face, and stomach, and were immediately directed to the assailant, 46-year-old Salvador Gomez-Lopez.
The unidentified victim and an uninjured witness told police officers that Gomez-Lopez was intoxicated, and that he had been urinating in plain view of other bus passengers.
When the victim told him to pull up his pants and to go use an actual bathroom facility, Gomez-Lopez responded by pulling a box cutter out of his backpack and attacking the man.
The victim was repeatedly sliced in the altercation that ensued, but was ultimately able to wrestle the blade from his attacker as the men tumbled to the ground.
The victim survived the assault, but the severity of his injuries was unknown, WJLA reported.
Police arrested Gomez-Lopez, and charged him with two counts of assault, public intoxication, and possession of a dangerous weapon with intent to injure, FOX News reported.
According to police, the “uncooperative” suspect also provided them with a false name, WJLA reported.
Investigators later learned that the El Salvadorian suspect was in the U.S. illegally, and that he was a wanted fugitive, an Immigration Customs and Enforcement (ICE) spokeswoman told FOX News on Tuesday.
ICE has placed an immigration detainer on the suspect, she added.
According to court records, Gomez-Lopez was working part-time for a relative as a maintenance worker and has two children, WJLA reported.
A three-day trial has been scheduled for April. Gomez-Lopez faces a maximum of 38 years in prison if he is convicted.