SAN MATEO – A man is recovering from a serious stab wound and another is behind bars after a Sunday night brawl in San Mateo, authorities said.
The fight was reported around 10:30 pm in the 400 block of South Norfolk Street. In a statement, San Mateo police said officers arrived to find the victim “bleeding profusely from his left arm” and that the suspect was holding a knife.
Police said the suspect threw the knife on the ground and obeyed officers’ orders to move away from the victim, police said. The suspect was then handcuffed.
Officers examined the victim’s injuries, including two minor cuts to the back of his head and a six-inch gash to his arm. Officers put a tourniquet on the victim’s arm because of the “huge amount of blood gushing from the wound,” police said. The victim was then taken to a hospital in the region for additional medical care.
An investigation revealed that the victim and the suspect, identified as 51-year-old San Mateo resident Jose Cortez Rodriguez, had been drinking together earlier in the evening, police said.
The victim told officers that Rodriguez suddenly attacked him, brandishing a knife and threatening to slit his throat. He sustained the cut on his arm as he raised his arms to protect his neck.
According to police, the victim ran into a nearby store and asked an employee to call police.
Rodriguez was booked in Maguire Correctional Facility in Redwood City on attempted murder charges. According to prison records, he is being held without bail.
