A 20-year-old woman suspected of being one of a group that allegedly attacked and stabbed another 20-year-old woman nine times in the leg on Saturday night at Dolores Park was arrested this morning, police said.
Cherena Martinee-Lugo, a San Francisco resident, was picked up at 8:15 a.m. on Sunday at a residence in the 2100 block of Market Street. She was booked for aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and a probation violation, police said.
It was unclear what triggered the attack, but both the victim and the suspects were among 40 to 50 people partying at the Church Street bridge.
“There was definitely heavy drinking going on,” said Carly Rogers, who was at the park on Monday afternoon and had also been there Saturday night when the incident occurred, at around 10 p.m. “I thought the ambulance was here to treat an intoxicated person.”
The victim left the party sometime around 10 p.m. to accompany her friend to the park bathrooms, according to SFPD spokesman Sgt. Mike Andraychak. While the victim waited outside the bathrooms, three or four women, some believed to be teenagers, approached her. They allegedly punched the victim, kicked her and stabbed her multiple times, according to the police report.
When the victim’s friend exited the bathroom, she discovered her lying unconscious nearby. When the victim woke up she was unaware of being stabbed. Two police officers who had arrived at 10:15 p.m. to deal with noise complaints noticed the victim bleeding from the nose and summoned an ambulance, Andraychak said.
Officers then realized that the woman also had a stab wound on her leg. Paramedics later concluded she had been stabbed nine times on her legs, Andraychak said. She was rushed to the hospital and treated for her non-life-threatening wounds.
An employee at Bi-Rite Creamery said that it was very busy at that hour, but no one there witnessed the crime. Others who were at the park at the time said they had no idea what had happened. “I thought police were shutting the party down,” said Mike Chase. “It was definitely a busy night.”
More officers were called to the scene to deal with the crowd and to find more witnesses. Police also found a knife that they believe was used in the attack.
The Dolores Park victim was the third stabbing victim of the weekend.