Novato police looking for suspects in stabbing attack

NOVATO – The Novato Police Department is seeking a group of male suspects in connection with a stabbing that occurred near Hutchins Way just before 3 a.m. Sunday.

According to investigators, either four or five assailants were involved in the June 19 incident, which targeted a young man who sustained chest wounds but is in stable condition.

The 19-year old victim, whose name has not been released, was walking by himself when the attackers rapidly exited a vehicle and approached him. The perpetrators struck the victim and stabbed him repeatedly.

An individual, described as a third party to the event, was driving by and saw the assault taking place. The driver stopped to intervene despite being badly outnumbered.

When confronted, the attackers ran from the immediate vicinity, though police said that a car might also have been used in the getaway.

The Novato Police Department responded to a 911 call alerting them to the incident, but the information did not come in until after the victim had left the scene.

“We were called after the subject after had already gotten to his house,” said Sgt. Jim Tross, who was the watch commander that morning.

Tross explained that the same person who had come to the victim’s aid had driven him home afterwards. Despite the multiple knife wounds he received, the victim remained in stable condition after the event.

Police responded quickly, said Tross, who noted that “from the time it was dispatched to the time we got on the scene was five minutes or less.” However, officers were unable to locate the suspects, despite searching the area using a K9 unit.

A press release described the assailants as being in their late teens to mid-20s, dressed in dark pants and white shirts at the time the crime was committed. No further details regarding the suspects have been provided, but the release did classify the lopsided confrontation as an attempted murder.

“It is very much a fluid investigation at this point,” Sgt. Tross said. “We are still trying to put the pieces together.”

Tross declined to identify a possible motive of the stabbing, but said that officers were interviewing potential witnesses to the crime.

On Saturday, two 15-year olds were arrested in Novato for what press reports refer to as a gang-related stabbing that took place two days prior. Tross said that the department was not prepared to comment on whether that incident was related to the assault on June 19.

Novato police request that anyone with information about the attack contact the department at (415) 897-4361.