Associated Press
DETROIT — A man arrested in the stabbing of two emergency medical technicians in Detroit has been charged in two other cases, including the 2006 sexual assault and fatal stabbing of a teenager, authorities announced Wednesday.
Michael Montgomery was arrested Tuesday night, hours after he attacked two EMTs who were helping a woman with an injured ankle.
Charges haven’t been filed in the stabbings of the EMTs. But Montgomery was charged Monday with murder and other crimes in the death of a 16-year-old Detroit girl nearly a decade ago.
The Wayne County prosecutor’s office said Montgomery was subsequently charged Tuesday with sexually assaulting and kidnapping a woman in 2005. Charges were brought in both cases before his arrest.
He’s in custody awaiting a court hearing Wednesday and doesn’t yet have an attorney.
Police said they also arrested the woman whom the EMTs had been treating. She fled with the man, despite an ankle injury, after the attack early Tuesday. Police and fire officials haven’t said how the man and woman are connected.
City officials said EMTs Kelly Adams and Alfredo Rojas had wounds to their faces and hands from the attack that involved a knife or some other sharp object. They were hospitalized in serious condition, but by Wednesday, The Detroit News reported, Adams was in fair condition and Rojas in good condition.
“We will not tolerate such violence in our city,” police said in a statement.
Adams and Rojas were treating the woman’s injured ankle when they asked the man who was with her to step back and calm down because he seemed agitated, interim Fire Commissioner Eric Jones said. At that point, the man attacked Rojas, Jones said.
Mayor Mike Duggan said Adams probably saved Rojas’ life when she intervened and the attacker slashed and stabbed her too.
Jones said the EMTs suffered “horrific” wounds and came “within inches of dying” but managed to drive themselves to a hospital. The union for EMTs in Detroit said both are looking at lengthy recoveries.