By Neil Farrell ~
San Luis Obispo police have arrested a Cuesta College student from Tulare County in connection with an alleged double stabbing that sent a Cal Poly and a Cuesta student to the hospital with knife wounds to their upper bodies.
According to San Luis Obispo Police Sgt. Chad Pfarr, the case started around midnight Sept. 18 at a party at the Alpha Gamma Rho (AGR) Fraternity’s house at 132 California Blvd.
“Both victims were attending an event hosted by the AGR Fraternity,” Sgt. Pfarr said, “where one suspect attempted to gain admittance. This suspect was denied entry due to the event being private. The suspect became angry and engaged one of the victims in a physical fight, which was quickly broken up and the suspect fled.”
A half-hour later, about 1:47 a.m. Sept. 18, the incident took a very serious turn, as police were notified of a stabbing outside the front entrance to the Mustang Village student housing complex.
“Officers responded and located two male victims who each suffered a single stab wound to their upper bodies,” Sgt. Pfarr said in a news release. “Both victims were treated at the scene and transported to Sierra Vista, where they were being treated for non-life threatening injuries.”
Police determined that the two “were approached by the first suspect and a second suspect, who both started a physical fight with victims.” Sgt. Pfarr said the second suspect pulled a knife and stabbed both men “in the upper torso.”
The suspects fled down Foothill towards California. Both scoundrels got away but not for long.
“Detectives worked throughout the day and following night,” Sgt. Pfarr said. The next day, they had identified one of the suspects, whom they said had done the stabbing. They got an arrest warrant and went looking for the man, who was identified as Jay Hernandez, 19 who is living in SLO and attending Cuesta College. Hernandez had run all the way back to Tulare and when he learned of the arrest warrant turned himself in at the Tulare County Jail, said Sgt. Pfarr.
He was booked on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon, posted $25,000 bail and has been released. He will eventually have to answer the charges in SLO County Superior Court.
As for the first suspect, the one who it would seem started the whole mess when he was denied entry to the frat party, as of Monday he remained unidentified and at large.
Hernandez’ arrest prompted a response on Monday from Cuesta. “The Cuesta College Police Department is fully cooperating with the San Luis Obispo Police Department with their investigation into the arrest of a Cuesta College student and his alleged involvement in a recent stabbing incident,” Cuesta President Dr. Gil Stork said in a statement. “The Cuesta College Office of the Vice President of Student Services and Campus Centers will follow college policies and procedures related to identifying whether student code of conduct violations occurred.
“We are concerned about the alleged incident involving our student,” Dr. Stork continued, “and we take this matter very seriously. The safety of our students and community is our highest priority.”
In what is perhaps a most ironic twist to this story, earlier on the same night as the stabbings, the Tribune reported that a group of Cal Poly and City administrators, plus concerned citizens from the neighborhoods around campus, went walking to check out the night scene.
According to the Tribune, they toured the same general neighborhood where the stabbings took place but had ended the walkabout some 90 minutes before it occurred.
Included in this tour group were the Mayor, at least one councilman, the Cal Poly and SLO police chiefs, several neighbors and vocal student critics, student body leaders, and the City fire chief, whom the Tribune reported was hit in the back of the head with a water balloon thrown by some revelers in a passing pick-up truck.
Fire Chief Garret Olson told SLO City News that the balloon hit him in the back of the neck and while it didn’t hurt too much, the surprise ballooning, “was an un-welcomed experience.” He was not injured in what would be considered battery. “Fortunately, they have yet to invent a water balloon that can take me down!” he joked days after the incident, noting that he was glad it was just a water balloon and not something more substantial, like a rock.
He said that Stephanie Teaford, the community liaison with Cal Poly and the organizer of the walkabout, “sent me a very kind apology after the event. She is a class act.” He added that to his knowledge the hooligans had not been caught and it was possible they were not Cal Poly students.
For its part, Cal Poly is taking the matter very seriously. “The Cal Poly family extends its good thoughts and wishes for speedy recovery to both victims of Friday morning’s incident,” Poly spokesman Matt Lazier told SLO City News. “In addition, we have reached out to our student and his family to offer the university’s support as he recovers.”
Poly administrators are working with SLOPD to keep up with the criminal case. And they’re doing their own investigation, as once again an incident involves a Cal Poly fraternity; one that is already on probation by the university.
“The university also is conducting its own student-conduct investigation,” Lazier said. “The Alpha Gamma Rho Fraternity chapter is currently on social probation stemming from an incident last December. Greek Life administrators are investigating the nature of the gathering connected with Friday morning’s incident to determine whether it was within the constraints of the fraternity chapter’s existing sanctions or if any violations of student conduct took place.
“The fraternity chapter has been instructed to suspend all functions and activities while the investigation takes place.”
Police continue to investigate the stabbings and Sgt. Pfarr said they were still working on the first suspect’s identity and whereabouts. Anyone with information regarding this case should contact the San Luis Obispo Police Department at (805) 781-7317 or Crime Stoppers at (805) 549-STOP.
