NORTH COAST, Calif. – A Ukiah teenager alleged to have been responsible for a New Year's Day stabbing turned himself in to authorities on Thursday evening.
Victor De La Cruz, 16, surrendered to Mendocino County Sheriff's detectives in Sonoma County, according to a report from Capt. Greg Van Patten.
Van Patten said the teen's surrender was facilitated by a private attorney from Ukiah.
De La Cruz is alleged to have stabbed a 20-year-old male numerous times in the neck and abdomen early on Wednesday morning, Van Patten said.
At 4:45 a.m. that day Coyote Valley Tribal Police and Mendocino County Sheriff's deputies were dispatched to a reported stabbing in the 100 block of Campbell Drive on the Coyote Valley Rancheria, according to Van Patten's report.
Van Patten said that when the officers and deputies arrived they found the victim bleeding profusely, with life-threatening injuries.
Medical personnel transported the victim to Ukiah Valley Medical Center. Van Patten said the man later was flown to an out-of-area hospital for additional medical treatment.
Officers and deputies interviewed several witnesses and learned the victim had been involved in an argument with De La Cruz, Van Patten said.
The argument escalated into a physical confrontation, which Van Patten said resulted in De La Cruz stabbing the victim numerous times before fleeing on foot.