ANN ARBOR, Mich. (WXYZ) — The man accused of stabbing a construction worker at a University of Michigan construction site is in police custody and will likely be charged in the coming days following an hours-long manhunt Thursday.
Watch Randy Wimbley's video report:
The incident occurred at the construction site of the D. Dan and Betty Kahn Health Care Pavilion, a little before 6:20 p.m. Thursday evening. Police say the suspect tried to enter the construction site and allegedly stabbed someone after being denied entry.
This is not the University of Michigan Police Department's first encounter with the 33-year-old suspect, who has a lengthy criminal history that includes an assortment of misdemeanor charges and convictions in Ypsilanti, Pittsfield Township, and Ann Arbor, where he has two open cases.
U of M police arrested the suspect for carrying a knife and trespassing in the Medical Science Building in January. They arrested him again the following month for trespassing at Pierpont Commons in April.
"When you've got multiple offenses, to be let back out to do it again, it's a little unnerving," said Nick Welch, who works at the construction site where the stabbing took place.
Welch and others confirmed the victim is also a construction worker. The victim underwent surgery for his injuries.
"I heard about an hour ago or so, I think it was, he got out of surgery. She said it went through the entire cheek to where his tongue could come out," Welch said.
The incident left some students shaken, particularly those who had been in the area shortly before the attack.
"It was just a little scary, a little overwhelming. I had just been in the building 30 minutes before, so it's scary to think that I could've been there when it happened," said U of M student Daniela Shimazaki Ito.
"I don't know what the crime rates are like around Ann Arbor, so don't know how much of an aberration that actually is, but when you hear stabbing, you're like, 'whoa,'" said U of M student Noah Hutchinson.
The suspect was arrested late Thursday night after an hours-long manhunt in Ann Arbor.
"Hopefully it don't happen again, man. I hate to hear anything bad happen to anybody. Nobody deserves that. Especially just trying to tell him he can't be in there," Welch said.
Authorities are continuing their investigation and plan to submit their findings to the Washtenaw County Prosecutor's Office for charges soon. The suspect could be formally charged with assault with intent to cause great bodily harm, less than murder, sometime this weekend.
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