A 13-year-old girl was allegedly arbitrarily attacked with a butcher-style knife by an MS-13 gang member in Indiana while she was at a park watching her brother play baseball over the Labour Day weekend, according to authorities.
According to online court documents, 26-year-old Dimas Gabriel Yanes is accused of attempted murder, violence, and intimidation.
Coach Matthew Ramian described the horrific incident that occurred in the stands at the fields at 17401 Morse Street in Lowell, northern Indiana, some 60 miles southeast of Chicago, on Saturday at 3:45 p.m.
“Out of the corner of my eye, I see this dude just come out of behind my dugout, and all he did was just jump on this girl, and then he started to push her down under the bleachers,” he told the station. “Then he pulls out at least a 16- to 20-inch knife, it wasn’t even a regular-sized pocket knife, and just started swinging it and got her a few times, and blood went all over the bleachers and on the people sitting in front of them.”
The Times of Northwest Indiana stated that the suspect allegedly hovered over her with a huge knife, citing an affidavit of probable cause. According to the paper, she deflected his attempted chest stab with her hand.
According to Ramian, up to fifteen spectators pursued the attacker as he went down the sidelines following the attack. Deputies searched overnight and the following day after the suspect vanished into the neighbouring woods. Yanes was observed running through a cornfield the next afternoon, and authorities say he was apprehended.
The suspect’s hair was cut in an attempt to alter his appearance, according to the authorities, who also claimed to have found a “butcher-style knife.” This information added to the terrible incident’s eerie atmosphere because the suspect’s mug photo displays an imperfect combination of longer and closely cropped hair.
The Chicago Tribune, citing the affidavit, stated that the suspect informed detectives that the attack was not planned and that he discovered the knife in the woods. The affidavit stated, “Someone was following him and telling him to do it,” as reported by the Tribune.
Officials stated that the girl was treated for hand wounds at a hospital before being released.
Sheriff Oscar Martinez Jr. stated on Facebook that the attacker’s suspect was a verified member of MS-13 and had been deemed a threat to national security and law enforcement.
The sheriff stated that although he was deported to Honduras in 2018, he entered the country illegally again and had a criminal history that included battery, trespassing, drunken driving, and attempted burglary in four states: New York, Illinois, Georgia, and Ohio.
According to online court documents, Yanes is being held at the Lake County Jail with a bail of $15,000 cash or $150,00 surety.
