Stabbing on Lower Westside

A 22-year-old man is in stable condition at Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital after being stabbed several times early Tuesday morning on the eastside.

According to a witness interviewed by police, he and the victim were riding their skateboards home from the skate park on Cabrillo Boulevard just after midnight, and as they rode by an apartment complex on the 300 block of Rancheria Street, the witness noticed a Hispanic man running toward them. As he skated along, he soon realized the victim was no longer following, and turned and saw the two in a fight. As the witness approached, the victim collapsed and the suspect ran away.

The witness helped the man to his feet and they continued on until Fremont Place, when the victim could go no further. The witness ran to the victim’s residence and got his stepfather, who was attending to the man’s wounds when police arrived. He was conscious and complaining that he couldn’t breathe, according to police, and had stab wounds to his neck, face and back. At the hospital it was determined he had two collapsed lungs.

When asked if the incident was gang related, Santa Barbara Police Department spokesman Sgt. Lorenzo Duarte said the motive for the attack was still unknown.