In the dead of night in Tustin, an 18-year-old man was arrested following a string of violent events that left one man dead and a woman severely injured. Tustin Police were summoned to the Arbor Ranch Apartments around 12:15 a.m. after being alerted to a hit-and-run and a stabbing at the same locale, as reported by KTLA.
The grim scene unfolded on Nisson Road where the authorities found the two victims in need of immediate medical attention. After being struck by a vehicle that fled, the woman is now stable but sustaining significant injuries, while the man who was stabbed succumbed to his wounds later at a local hospital. KTLA mentioned in their coverage that Jan Daniel Lopez, the suspected assailant, was arrested merely two hours after the incident while he drove in Anaheim.
Witnesses described a chaotic altercation. "He got out of the car and they were fighting along the sidewalk, behind where the car was crashed," one witness recounted in a statement obtained by CBS Los Angeles. "They made their way up the sidewalk that guy stabbed him ... They were both on the ground and that's when he stabbed him." The same witness also noted that locals rushed to the assistance of the young woman struck by the car.
Further details from the Tustin Police Department's press release on Facebook stated that the investigation is ongoing, with a call to the public for any additional information. The Anaheim Police Department, having located Lopez during a routine patrol, brought him in without a struggle; he is presently being processed. Strangely missing from the jail records at the time were Lopez's bail amount and next scheduled court date.
The motives behind this violent episode are still under scrutiny, and Tustin Police believe there was a prior relationship between Lopez and his victims. Anyone with further insight into these grave events is urged to contact Detective Schultz at the Tustin Police Department.
