Watsonville Police Arrest Man in Stabbing

A Watsonville man was arrested Thursday afternoon on attempted murder and domestic violence charges in connection with the alleged stabbing of his girlfriend, police said today.

The victim, a 28-year-old Watsonville woman, was stabbed around 8:40 p.m. on Wednesday at a home at 280 Pennsylvania Drive, police said.

The victim was driven to Watsonville Community Hospital with a stab wound to the left side of her jaw and was bleeding profusely, but was able to tell officers that her boyfriend, Gabriel Mendoza, had allegedly stabbed her.

She was treated at the hospital for a stab wound just below her ear that was centimeters away from the victim's carotid artery, and could have been fatal, police said.

Police searched for Mendoza but could not locate him, and a warrant was issued for his arrest.

Mendoza walked into the Watsonville police station around 1 p.m. on Thursday, and turned himself in. He provided a statement to detectives and was later booked into Santa Cruz County jail on charges of attempted murder and domestic violence.

— Bay City News Service