Stabbing victim fought off attacker in Santa Rosa's Roxy Theater

Adam Lucero hadn’t been in town long.

Newly graduated from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo with a degree in business administration, and a job set up for later this month, he decided to pass Wednesday afternoon at the Roxy Theater.

Lucero, 21, settled into his seat in the back third of sparsely filled Theater 9.

He got up to use the restroom, and a second moviegoer in the theater, a man with distinct dreadlocks, did too, according to his brother, Michael Lucero, 30, of Pasadena. Returning to the theater, the same man sat behind him as “The Shallows” played. Thirty minutes into the show, the man pulled out a chef’s knife and plunged it repeatedly into him.

Lucero struggled, fighting back, according to his brother. The assailant ran from the theater, but left Lucero with wounds in his neck, arm and ear, along with a punctured lung.

Friday, Lucero remained heavily sedated after undergoing a lengthy surgery, his brother said. Adam, the youngest of four boys, is from Camarillo in Ventura County.

“The whole family is up here watching over him, our parents, his brothers,” Michael Lucero said. “Doctors said all his major arteries were missed and his voice box wasn’t hit.”

Friday afternoon, brothers Michael and Brandon Lucero, 32, of Ventura County, left the hospital to attend the first appearance in Sonoma County Superior Court of their brother’s alleged assailant, Delonte Hart.

Court deputies pushed Hart, 23, into the courtroom handcuffed to a wheelchair to restrain him. Deputy District Attorney Mark Urioste asked Judge Arthur Wick to double Hart’s bail to $2 million due to “the public safety risk that he poses and flight risk,” he said.

Wick held the bail at $1 million and scheduled a formal arraignment for 8:30 a.m. next Friday on felony attempted murder and assault with a deadly weapon charges.

The only word Hart uttered was “Yes” when the judge asked him if he agreed to delay entering a plea until Friday.

Outside the courtroom, Chief Deputy District Attorney Spencer Brady said he could not comment on whether his office would charge Hart with the murder of Cirak Tesfazgi, 32, of Santa Rosa.

Tesfazgi, a graduate of Santa Rosa High School and Sonoma State University, was found dead early Monday in a Riley Street doorway alcove in downtown Santa Rosa where he sometimes slept.

Several family friends of Tesfazgi were also at Friday’s hearing. Mengistab Gebre, 57, of Santa Rosa, held a photograph of Tesfazgi taken at Santa Rosa High School’s prom dance.

“Who can do such a thing?” Gebre said. “I hope this is the one (suspect), so it will be over.”

“I want to know, I want to look at evil, who did this,” said Solomon Gebreyesus, 62, of Santa Rosa. “I have known Cirak since the day he was born.”

Police consider Hart a “person of interest” but have not arrested him in connection with Tesfazgi’s killing.

Tesfazgi had a key to his mother’s Santa Rosa apartment, but he had been sleeping outside off and on for several years. He was a well-known and well-liked fixture at downtown coffee shops and the library. His family and friends will hold a memorial service for him today.

Police believe Hart had been homeless in Santa Rosa for about four months after spending time in Alameda County. He’s originally from the Baltimore area, according to police.

Lucero was staying with relatives in Napa County while he looked for an apartment, his brother said. He was supposed to start a new job in two weeks.

Michael Lucero said family members rushed to Santa Rosa from various Southern California cities when they learned of the attack. Lucero has been heavily sedated, and they have not been able to talk with him.

However, he was able to tell officers a few details about the attack in the initial aftermath.

“When you’re watching a movie, you’re so vulnerable,” said Michael Lucero, who was told his brother tried to fight Hart off during the attack.

“I think he hit the guy and caused him to run off,” Michael Lucero said. “To continue to fight the guy, which I think he did, that’s incredible.”

Lucero’s family has set up a GoFundMe account for donations to help cover his medical expenses at gofundme.com/2c9gzss.

A GoFundMe account also has been set up to help Tesfazgi’s family pay for funeral expenses at gofundme.com/cirak.

You can reach Staff Writer Julie Johnson at 521-5220 or julie.johnson@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @jjpressdem.