A motorist stopped at a red light was injured when a knife-wielding pedestrian reached into the open passenger-side window and attacked him.
The suspect was later apprehended by police and charged for the crime.
Morgan Buchanan Guy Pearson, 25, of the 700 block of East University Avenue, is charged with one count of aggravated battery with a deadly weapon. The charge is a third-degree felony.
Shortly before 7 p.m. Monday, Sept. 30, Las Cruces police were dispatched to East University Avenue where the incident occurred. Officers learned the victim, a motorist, was traveling west on University Avenue and came to a stop at the red light at El Paseo Road. While waiting for the light to turn green, the victim noticed a man approach his vehicle.
The pedestrian, later identified as Pearson, allegedly approached the passenger-side of the victim’s vehicle, reached inside and grabbed the victim’s shirt. Pearson, reportedly armed with a knife, tried stabbing the victim several times while indicating he wanted to kill the motorist.
The two men struggled for control of the knife and the motorist received lacerations to the fingers of his left hand. The motorist punched the suspect’s head several times before taking control of the knife. The motorist’s injuries were not life-threatening.
Pearson then fled toward a nearby apartment complex where police located him in a second-floor residence. Pearson was non-compliant with officers who were forced to utilize a Taser to make the arrest.
Investigators have no reason to believe Pearson and the victim knew each other prior to the incident.
Pearson was booked into the Dona Ana County Detention Center where he’s initially being held without bond.