Lancaster small-business owner and employee stabbed before attempted carjacking, authorities say

Thursday, April 27, 2023
LANCASTER, Calif. (KABC) -- A suspect was arrested Wednesday night after he allegedly stabbed a small-business owner and an employee in Lancaster and then attempted a carjacking nearby, authorities said.

The incident occurred at about 8 p.m. at the Automod Racing body shop in the 44400 block of Sierra Highway, according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department.
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Deputies saw a man in his 20s attempting to carjack a female driver, a sheriff's spokesperson said. The suspect fled but was apprehended by the deputies a short time later.

As the suspect was being taken into custody, two men approached the deputies. The men said they had been stabbed by the suspect earlier that evening.
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Noel Dizon, the owner of Automod Racing, said the attack began when the suspect threw a beer inside the shop. Dizon said he chased the man, who then stabbed him in the shoulder with a knife.

The employee tried to intervene and was also stabbed in the confrontation.

According to Dizon, the attacker said: "Your shop is done. I'm coming back for you."



"So now I'm threatened," Dizon said in an interview. A scar was visible on his shoulder, and his ripped T-shirt was stained with blood. "So I said to the cop: 'We've got to make sure he -- I'm feeling not so good because this guy's coming back for me.'"

Both of the stabbing victims sustained injuries that were not life-threatening, the Sheriff's Department said.

Authorities believe the attempted carjacking and the stabbings were random attacks.
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