Detroit EMTs Released From Hospital, 'Lucky' To Survive Box Cutter Stabbing Attack
DETROIT (WWJ/AP) - Two Detroit emergency medical technicians who were attacked with a box cutter have been released from a hospital.
Detroit Receiving Hospital spokeswoman Ruth Kremer says Alfredo Rojas, 25, and Kelly Adams, 49, were released Wednesday, about 36 hours after they were stabbed and slashed by a man who wasn't allowed to get in the ambulance with his injured girlfriend.
Rojas' hands are bandaged, and he has cuts under his right eye and near his nose, but he said he feels "lucky" and "blessed." He told WDIV-TV that he thought he might not survive but "did everything to fight that off." Rojas nearly lost his eye in the attack.
"He pulled the knife out and slashed my partner and I stepped in to try to help her out," Rojas told the TV station. "I felt him hit my face and I thought it was just a punch. I didn't know he actually slashed me. I think the adrenaline kicked in. It wasn't until the whole thing was done that I realized my hand was cut and I was really bleeding bad from my face."
Suspect Michael Montgomery was arrested Tuesday night. He hasn't been charged yet in the attack but is charged in two other cases, including the 2006 rape and stabbing death of a teenager, and the 2005 sexual assault and kidnapping of a 33-year-old woman.
Police say it's a stunning coincidence: A murder charge was filed against Montgomery just hours before he attacked the EMTs with a box cutter. Sgt. Lance Sullivan of the cold case squad said investigators began looking for Montgomery Monday after DNA tests linked him to the sexual assault and murder of a 16-year-old girl nearly 10 years ago.
Sullivan said he was shocked when investigators learned the same man was suspected in the EMT stabbings.
"It has to be one of strangest incidents I've ever seen with the cases being connected," he said.
Montgomery, 30, appeared in court via jail video on the murder charge and was denied bond Wednesday. He looked stunned and kept his head down at times during the brief hearing. A defense lawyer will be assigned.
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