MONTEVIDEO -- Police in Willmar have recovered the vehicle belonging to the suspect who allegedly stabbed three people in Montevideo.
One man was seriously injured in the altercation after the bars closed early Friday morning in downtown Montevideo.
Officers on Friday night discovered the car belonging to Victor Daniel Medina, 21, of Montevideo, at an apartment complex in Willmar. Medina has family and friends in the Willmar area.
Montevideo police had sent a teletype to Kandiyohi County alerting law officers to be on the lookout for Medina's midnight blue Chrysler 300.
Medina remains at large.
ADVERTISEMENT
Montevideo Police Chief Adam Christopher said law enforcement believes he may still be hiding in the region.
Medina is accused of stabbing three people around 2 a.m. Friday in a parking lot behind Inn Like Flinn's in downtown Montevideo.
One of the injured, a 31-year-old man, remains listed in serious condition at Hennepin County Medical Center in Minneapolis, where he had been airlifted.
The man suffered knife wounds to the stomach. Christopher said the man is improving and investigators are waiting for an opportunity to interview him.
Two female victims, ages 22 and 31, suffered wounds to their stomachs and were treated at Chippewa County-Montevideo Hospital and Medical Clinic. One of the women required surgery.
Medina faces felony charges of first- and second-degree assault with a dangerous weapon and causing substantial bodily harm.
Details are still sketchy on what happened that night, but police believe the stabbing followed an exchange of words between a female and Medina. According to the complaint, Medina allegedly began swinging a knife and an altercation ensued involving a number of people.
At the time of the incident, Medina was free on bail after posting a $50,000 bail bond for charges of aiding and abetting an assault, second- and third-degree assault and tampering with a witness relating to a June 26 incident. He is accused of having wielded a knife and cutting a man in that earlier incident.
ADVERTISEMENT
The complaint from the June 26 incident alleges Medina served as a lookout outside the bathroom in Inn Like Flinn's when Joel Filiberto Medellin, 19, of Montevideo, allegedly beat a man and robbed him of $200 cash and a Blackberry cell phone. The 27-year-old man suffered a fractured skull and was left unresponsive on the bathroom floor.
Medellin and Medina are accused of subsequently assaulting a 19-year-old man who had given Medina and two others a ride to Inn Like Flinn's. The man had voiced his displeasure at what had happened. Medina allegedly punched him in the face, cut his face below the left eye with a knife and held the 6- to 8-inch knife blade to the man's throat, stating: "You know what I could do to you, right?''
Medellin is accused of punching the man in the face as he attempted to drive away, first by jumping in the passenger side and then assaulting him from the driver's side.
Christopher said law officers have had prior encounters with Medina. He pleaded guilty to third-degree assault in 2006 for striking a victim with a baseball bat and was sentenced to 21 months in prison, according to court records.
The chief said he had encountered Medina only a day or two before the Friday incident. Medina was a passenger in a vehicle the chief had stopped for a broken windshield. At that time, the chief said Medina was cooperative and calm.
Medina is originally from the Clarkfield area. Anyone who may have information about Medina's whereabouts is encouraged to contact law enforcement and to avoid contact with him.
