Woman stabbed during Santa Monica break-in; suspect sought

SANTA MONICA, Calif. (KABC) -- Surveillance video shows a man suspected of breaking into a Santa Monica apartment and attacking a sleeping woman with a knife.

Santa Monica police said the suspect went into an apartment that was kitty-corner from the police station and grabbed a kitchen knife to attack the woman.

"The victim woke up and at some point the suspect jumped on top of her. She had multiple stab wounds and some lacerations on her body. She is in serious condition and is undergoing surgery at this point," Lt. Saul Rodriguez said.

The suspect took off from the apartment, leaving a trail of blood behind from a knife wound to his hand, authorities said. Police were able to track the blood to a location in the 1500 block of 12th Street, about a mile away from the crime scene.

"There's blood that leads a little farther beyond the 12th Street address that we are still continuing to work on...and other evidence that we found in the apartment itself. So there's some significant leads that we have and we're still working that actively," Rodriguez said.

But the key to finding the man is security cameras. Investigators said the area around the attack is packed with them, so they canvassed the area for any images that may have the suspect's face.

"As you know, anywhere in Santa Monica has a lot of surveillance video so we're trying to gather as much video as we can based on the trail that we have been able to establish and follow. We're hoping to find any lead that we can to identify the individual who did this," Rodriguez said.

Anyone with more information that may lead to the arrest of the suspect is urged to call the Santa Monica Police Department at (310) 458-8491.