Stabbing victim may leave hospital Monday

Sonoma County Sheriff’s officials said the 69-year-old man who was stabbed multiple times Friday night at his home in a retirement community near Sonoma is recovering and is expected to be released Monday from Queen of the Valley Medical Center in Napa. The Sonoma County Sheriff’s Department declined to comment on motive in the attack, noting the investigation is still underway.

“The victim and all the witnesses have been interviewed now,” said Sgt. Shannon McAlvain, an investigator with the department’s violent crimes unit. “It appears to be a family fight that led to the domestic disturbance.”

SWAT deputies arrested Hector Gustavo Vasquez, 55, early Saturday, following a lengthy negotiation with Sonoma County Sheriff’s officers. Vasquez allegedly stabbed his father at least two times in his stomach and torso around 6 p.m. Friday and then barricaded himself inside his home for hours.

Sgt. McAlvain said the department is withholding the name of the victim at the family’s request. At the time of the stabbing, at least one other family member who lived in the home on the 1200 block of Mission Drive - part of the Telemac neighborhood outside Sonoma - was present. Officers interviewed the family member Sunday.

“The family has been very cooperative with us during the investigation,” McAlvain said.

A neighbor, Lynn Hilliard, whose mother lives two doors down from Vasquez on Mission Drive, said she heard her neighbor had been stabbed Friday night. Emergency personnel soon arrived on scene, including hostage negotiators and the Sheriff’s Department SWAT team. Nearly seven hours later, Vasquez peacefully surrendered, officials said.

McAlvain said Vasquez is expected to be arraigned Tuesday in a Sonoma County courthouse. He said investigators don’t believe that Vasquez was under the influence of substances at the time of the attack.

“I can’t speak to any mental illnesses, but we don’t believe he was under the influence of alcohol or any illegal substances at the time of the incident,” McAlvain said.