Iowa City Police: 17-Year-Old Charged with Attempted Murder for Knife Attack at Restaurant

Update 2:45 p.m.:

The Iowa City Police Department has released a criminal complaint with more details about the assault at the Red Pepper Grill restaurant.

The alleged assailant, Heather Kay Stanfield, 17, was an employee at Red Pepper Grill and reportedly told police that she did not know the woman she assaulted, but police indicated they knew of each other. As the woman entered the restaurant, ordered sandwiches and sat down at a booth, Stanfield decided to grab an eight-inch long kitchen knife and stab the woman multiple times according to the complaint.

The woman resisted Stanfield's attack, according to complaint, and she "sustained four stab wounds, the first on the left hand, the second on the left elbow, the third on the front side of her right shoulder and the fourth on the
back side of her right shoulder." Although transported to the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics for treatment, the wounds were not life threatening, according to police.

The Iowa City Press-Citizen reports that Stanfield knew who the woman was before she entered the restaurant, although they had never met:

Police Sgt. Vicki Lalla said Stanfield and the woman had a history despite having never met in person.

“They didn't know each other, but they knew of each other,” Lalla said.

Police are not elaborating further on a motive.

A male witness stepped in to stop the attack. The woman who was attacked told police she feared the stabbing would not have been stopped without his intervention, according to the complaint.

The Gazette has an account of some witnesses at the scene:

A male witness used a chair to disarm Stanfield and restrain her before police could arrive, according to other restaurant employees.

Stanfield was charged with attempted murder, a Class B felony. She is not being held in the Johnson County Jail due to her status as a minor, but will be charged as an adult due to commiting a forcible felony over the age of 16.

Previous Coverage:

A 17-year-old Iowa City teen faces a felony attempted murder charge after she allegedly attacked a woman who had come to eat at the Red Pepper Grill restaurant.

According to an Iowa City Police news release, earlier today (Feb. 18), at 11:46 a.m. the Iowa City Police Department responded to the restaurant located at 517 S. Riverside Drive for the report of an assault.

The officers on the scene reportedly determined that an adult female victim had come to eat at the restaurant when she was attacked with a knife by Heather Stanfield, 17, of Iowa City.

A male witness on the scene was able to disarm Stanfield and end the assault on the woman, but the woman sustained four wounds as a result of the attack. She was transported to University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics for her injuries.

Stanfield was taken into custody at the scene and has been charged with attempted murder.