Suspect arrested in stabbing at Lola’s Market in Santa Rosa

Santa Rosa police detectives have arrested a 39-year-old suspect in last week’s unprovoked stabbing in the restaurant section of Lola’s Market in southwest Santa Rosa last week.

The arrest at 7 p.m. Wednesday came less than five hours after police released a detailed description of the suspect, along with video images from a restaurant surveillance camera.

Police said that on Dec. 21, just before 6:30 p.m., area resident Eulalio Miniz Orozco got up from a restaurant table and stabbed a 61-year-old man in the neck before fleeing on foot. Police said the two men did not know each other, nor were there any words exchanged before the attack.

Witnesses told police they believed Orozco lived near the popular market.

The description of Orozco brought detectives new leads in the investigation, police said. On Wednesday evening, police contacted and detained Orozco without incident in the area of Dutton Avenue and Sebastopol Road.

Orozco, who goes by a number of aliases, including Ricardo Romero Velazquez, was arrested on suspicion of attempted murder and booked into Sonoma County Jail.

Police served a search warrant at a home on Goodman Avenue, just east of Lola’s Market, where Orozco was living. Police said they believe Orozco had been living in Santa Rosa for the past two months.

Police said they are still trying to determine the motive for the attack. The victim, who was taken to a local hospital with a life-threatening wound, is now in stable condition, police said. His name is not being released because of the violent nature of the crime and the ongoing investigation.

You can reach Staff Writer Martin Espinoza at 707-521-5213.