DELTONA, Fla. – Within a week, the Volusia County Sheriff’s Office said it’s made an arrest in the unprovoked stabbing of a 73-year-old man as he was sleeping outside of a Deltona bank.
Investigators employed video surveillance, help from a K-9 unit and a search warrant to tie 54-year-old David Vazquez to the April 8 attack at the Bank of America along E. Normandy Boulevard, according to a news release.
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It happened around 2:12 a.m. while the victim slept near the bank’s entrance, deputies said. He awoke to a masked person stabbing him, suffering a stab wound in his chest and multiple defensive wounds to his hands and forearms as the 73-year-old grabbed the attacker’s blade and wrestled him to the ground. The older man fought the suspect off and was able to briefly pull the mask away from their face, reporting how the assailant looked startled as they ran off, the release states.
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The victim called 911 and described the suspect to responding deputies as they tried to stop the bleeding, telling them he knew of no one who had a reason to attack him. He was hospitalized with injuries that were significant but not life-threatening in the end, according to the sheriff’s office.
From the bank, a K-9 unit tracked the suspect through the parking lot of a nearby gas station where a figure matching the attacker’s description was recorded on surveillance footage, as well as the individual’s vehicle.
Deputies identified Vazquez through the video and found him and the vehicle in Deltona on Friday. He was taken into custody regarding an unrelated charge of failure of a convicted felon to properly register, according to the sheriff’s office.
That evening, a search warrant was executed at Vazquez’s residence, where investigators found a pair of bloodied blue jeans in a washing machine and a jacket with a large red stain — both articles of clothing having been seen on the surveillance footage — along with several knives and a ski mask, deputies said.
Vazquez denied any involvement in the attack, no motive has been determined and there is no known connection between him and the victim, deputies said.
In addition to the failure to register charge, Vazquez faces a charge of attempted murder and is being held on no bond amount, records show.
Sheriff’s office detectives credited help from the Deltona Crime Suppression Team and the Deltona Narcotics Enforcement Team in their investigation.
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