Ukiah man held without bail after stabbing, high-speed chase

A Mendocino County stabbing suspect reputed to be armed with a firearm was found to have a gun, body armor and a knife when authorities caught up with him Tuesday, the local sheriff’s office said.

Ukiah resident Victor Lopez, 32, was being held without bail in the aftermath of the incident, which left another man with non-life-threatening injuries, the sheriff’s office said.

Lopez was an occupant of a purple car that deputies responding to the stabbing saw leaving the scene on Pinoleville Drive north of Ukiah around noon Tuesday, authorities said. When the deputies tried to stop the suspect vehicle, the driver led them on a high-speed pursuit down North State Street and Highway 101 to the Perkins Street off-ramp, where a man later identified as Lopez exited the car and fled on foot, authorities said.

Lopez was apprehended near North Orchard Street after discarding a knife that was found nearby, authorities said.

He was arrested for suspected assault with a deadly weapon, vehicular evasion, unlawful possession of a firearm, unlawful possession of body armor and resisting arrest, the sheriff’s office said. Lopez also was found to have an outstanding arrest warrant for violation of parole, and was being held without bail because of it.

His alleged victim, Alexander Jackson, also 32, had been stabbed in the head during a fight, but also was arrested on an outstanding Lake County warrant for misdemeanor possession of a controlled substance, the Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office said. His bail was set at $10,000, authorities said.

You can reach Staff Writer Mary Callahan at 521-5249 or mary.callahan@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @MaryCallahanB.