Updates status of detective; identity of suspect in custody
An unprovoked attack on an LASD detective who was stabbed in a fast food restaurant in Canyon Country on Monday morning ended with the suspect being tracked to a home a block away where he was found and bit by a sheriff’s K9 unit.
The alleged assailant came up to the victim — a law enforcement officer who was not in uniform and whom has not been identified — and the alleged attacker asked the officer if he was a deputy, and then stabbed the officer once in the chest, Sheriff’s Department officials said Monday morning. The victim appeared to be wearing a Sheriff’s Department ID tag, in photos taken at the scene of the stabbing, but was dressed in business attire. It’s not certain at this time if he was on duty at the time of the attack.
Paramedics rushed the sheriff’s official to the hospital from the scene outside the Jack In the Box on Soledad Canyon Road at 10:08 a.m., said Fire Department Inspector Dave Dantic.
The suspect, Donald Chinchilla, 21, whom deputies quickly identified based on witness descriptions and previous interactions, then fled the scene. Deputies found the suspect in a home in Canyon Country, and the department’s Special Enforcement Bureau was called to the scene to assist officers on duty.
The suspect was taken into custody from a Canyon Country home on the 18900 block of Nearbrook Street, not far from the stabbing near a Jack In The Box by the intersection of Soledad Canyon Road and Crossglade Avenue, around noon.
The suspect has had previous run-ins with Sheriff’s Station officials, according to Sheriff’s Department arrest records.
Chinchilla was bit by a K-9 unit during station deputies’ efforts to find and arrest him. He was treated for and then taken into custody.
The suspect was considered dangerous because of the nature of the unprovoked attack.
Detectives seized what they believe to be the weapon used in the attack – a large kitchen knife recovered at the scene, Shirley Miller, SCV Sheriff’s spokeswoman posted on the station’s Facebook page.
The victim, who’s believed to be a Sheriff’s Department official, was stabbed in the chest, but expected to make a full recovery from his injury.
Captain Darren Harris of the Sheriff’s Information Bureau told reporters shortly before noon that the wounded detective was recovering from his injury at hospital.
“He is good condition and he is expected to survive,” he said. “So we’re grateful for that.”
Canyon Springs Elementary School was briefly under soft lock down as a precaution while the suspect was being apprehended; deputies do not believe the school’s occupants are in danger.
Deputies on scene Monday also noted there was a run-in with the suspect on Saturday.
“We want the community to know that all resources necessary will be deployed to bring his assailant to justice,” said Santa Clarita City Councilman Cameron Smyth. “The person responsible for this violent crime will be captured and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. We want to make it clear to those who think they can get away with attacking one of our Santa Clarita public safety officers – that they are sorely mistaken. This kind of violence will not be tolerated in our City.”
