SALT LAKE CITY — A man was arrested Sunday and accused of stabbing another man in the neck in Pioneer Park.
Alex Jones, 33, was booked into the Salt Lake County Jail for investigation of aggravated assault resulting in serious injury.
Salt Lake police responded to a stabbing at Pioneer Park, 350 S. 300 West, and found a 74-year-old man with cuts on his neck and arm. The man was taken to a local hospital in critical condition with what police called "life-threatening injuries."
"Preliminary information indicates the victim was sitting on a park bench when the suspect stabbed him. The relationship between the two men and the events leading up to the stabbing remain under investigation," police said Monday.
"Officers spoke to a witness who stated that the male came up from behind the victim with a knife and stabbed him in the neck area," according to a police booking affidavit. "A separate witness who was in the park heard people yelling, 'Stop him, he stole something.'"
That witness ran after Jones and recognized him when he got close.
"He told him to stop and to give up the item he stole. (Jones) denied stealing anything and handed over a wallet and sunglasses," the affidavit states.
It was later discovered that Jones gave the man his own wallet.
Jones was located by officers about an hour later and taken into custody. When questioned at the police station, detectives noted that Jones "was making nonsensical statements stating that he sees demons and didn't remember much of what he was doing," the affidavit alleges. "He denied being in any type of altercation at Pioneer Park and denied stabbing someone."
