[symple_googlemap title=”Taco stand attack” location=”5100 Whittier Boulevard, Los Angeles, CA” height=”300″ zoom=”13″]
The random stabbing attack of a woman in a taco truck line could send the 29-year-old suspect who was high on meth to prison for the rest of his life as he was charged Friday with attempted murder and other counts.
Authorities said the charges could bring a sentence of life in prison.
His 23-year-old woman victim was in stable condition with stab wounds to her hands and arms, inflicted when she had been desperately trying to fend off the attack.
The admitted meth using suspect, Andres Contreras, was charged and then scheduled to be arraigned Friday afternoon at a downtown Los Angeles courthouse on one count each of attempted murder, kidnapping and assault with a deadly weapon.
Contreras — who did not know the woman — allegedly admitted to sheriff’s deputies that he had been using methamphetamine all day.
Contreras allegedly approached the woman Wednesday night at a taco stand in the 5100 block of Whittier Boulevard, told her she was going to die, stabbed her as she tried to protect herself and dragged her into oncoming traffic, according to the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office.
A good Samaritan tried to intervene, but Contreras allegedly cut him in the chest, according to the District Attorney’s Office.
Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies, who were in the area, stopped the attack and took Contreras into custody, authorities said.
He has remained behind bars since his arrest.
If convicted as charged, he could face up to life in state prison, according to the District Attorney’s Office.
— City News Service