An 18-year-old man who lives with his parents was arrested Thursday night on suspicion of stabbing a female jogger in Rossmoor earlier this week.
James Rivas was taken into custody around 8 p.m. after a foot chase near his family’s Rossmoor house, which is three blocks from the crime scene, according to the Orange County Sheriff’s Department.
A knife was recovered nearby, authorities said in a press release issued Friday morning.
The arrest followed two days of canvassing the Rossmoor neighborhood for clues in the attack, authorities said. Investigators interviewed numerous residents and employees of nearby businesses. Around 4 p.m. Thursday, a lead from one of the interviews led investigators to identify Rivas as a suspect.
Deputies began surveillance of his home and approached when he left the house around 8 p.m. After a brief foot chase, he was arrested on suspicion of attempted murder.
The victim, a 28-year-old female, was grabbed from behind and stabbed three times shortly after 9 p.m. Tuesday while running in the 3200 block of Bostonian Drive, sheriff’s spokesman Jim Amormino said.
The woman, who was released from the hospital Wednesday, knocked the knife out of the assailant’s hand after the first stab wound, but he managed to knock her down and stab her two more times, Amormino said.
The woman was stabbed in the face, hand and arm, Amormino said.
Upon hearing her screaming, a nearby resident rushed outside, and the assailant fled on a BMX bicycle, Amormino said. Rivas fit the suspect description and was known to ride a BMX bike and carry knives, officials said Friday.
The motive for the attack remains unclear. “He made no attempt to sexually assault her,” Amormino said, “and he didn’t say one word. She said he looked angry.”
Rivas was being held on $500,000 bail.
— City News Service contributed to this report.