A 20-year-old San Rafael man is behind bars after police say he stabbed his roommate during an argument over money and drugs, leaving the victim with a wounded arm. Nicolas David Velandia Pachon was booked into Marin County Jail on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon and possessing controlled substances for sale, and he remained in custody Tuesday in lieu of $50,000 bail.
The stabbing happened Sunday on San Pablo Avenue near the Marin County Civic Center, according to the San Rafael Police Department, as reported by The Press Democrat. Paramedics took the victim to a hospital for treatment of a wounded arm, per Lieutenant Scott Eberle. Police allege the stabbing occurred during an argument over money and drugs, and officers said they discovered suspected narcotics during a search, also per Eberle.
A Corridor Steps From the County's Nerve Center
San Pablo Avenue sits in San Rafael's Civic Center and Santa Venetia area, running directly adjacent to the Marin County Civic Center complex and the U.S. Post Office, according to HL Commercial Real Estate. The stabbing scene was near the Civic Center, the jail is on its grounds, and the courthouse is adjacent to the jail. It isn't the corridor's first brush with violent crime: in August 2025, San Rafael police issued a neighborhood shelter-in-place order along San Pablo Avenue while searching for an armed suspect in a separate stabbing; negotiations failed, and officers forced entry before taking the suspect into custody.
The arrest also comes less than a week after San Rafael police opened an investigation into a fatal stabbing outside a medical building on Las Gallinas Avenue, a case in which Hoodline previously reported police detained a suspect whose identity had not been disclosed. Taken together, the two incidents mark a string of knife violence in San Rafael in a matter of days.
Charges Carry Steep Potential Penalties
The Marin County District Attorney's Office has a general role in criminal referrals. Under California Penal Code Section 245(a)(1), assault with a deadly weapon other than a firearm is a wobbler offense that, when charged as a felony, carries a state prison sentence of two, three, or four years and fines up to $10,000, according to Eisner Gorin LLP.
The narcotics allegation carries its own weight. Possession of a controlled substance for sale under California Health and Safety Code Section 11351 is a straight felony punishable by two, three, or four years in county jail and fines up to $20,000, the firm notes, which makes defendants ineligible for standard pretrial drug diversion programs. Proposition 47 reduced simple drug possession to a misdemeanor years ago, but sales offenses remain felonies under the law.
What Happens Next for the Suspect
Velandia Pachon is being held at the Marin County Jail, the county's sole adult detention facility, located at 13 Peter Behr Drive on the Civic Center grounds. The facility has a capacity of 376 beds and an average daily population of around 245 inmates, according to The Nieves Law Firm. Under Marin County court procedures, defendants held on felony charges are scheduled for arraignment within 48 hours of arrest, excluding weekends and official court holidays.
The past two weeks have brought two separate stabbing investigations in San Rafael.
