L.A. man is held in stabbing attacks

A Los Angeles man was arrested Sunday on suspicion of slashing three people in Dana Point and hitting one victim with her own rental car.

With the help of police, Orange County sheriff’s deputies captured Blaine R. Bowker in Long Beach about 6 p.m., nearly 14 hours after the attacks at a fast-food restaurant and a motel parking lot.

Authorities said they were considering charges of assault with a deadly weapon and carjacking against Bowker, 36, who is suspected of stealing a car at knifepoint during one attack.

Jim Amormino, a sheriff’s spokesman, said the victims were treated at Mission Hospital in Mission Viejo for stab wounds, cuts and internal injuries.

The names of the victims were not released Sunday. Amormino did not know their conditions, except that their injuries were not life-threatening.

The first stabbings occurred about 4 a.m. as Bowker spoke with two people at a Del Taco on Pacific Coast Highway, police said. Bowker pulled out a small knife and stabbed a 33-year-old employee of another restaurant in the chest and a 34-year-old Orange County lifeguard in the stomach, Amormino said. He did not know the motive.

According to deputies, the victims tried to pursue Bowker, but they were bleeding badly and gave up the chase.

Bowker ran along PCH and allegedly accosted a 36-year-old tourist from New York state as she got into her rental car at a Holiday Inn. She was preparing to head to John Wayne Airport to fly home. “The suspect approached the victim with a knife and forced his way into the car,” Amormino said. “The woman fought and suffered cuts to both of her hands as a result.”

After she escaped from the vehicle, Bowker allegedly backed into her and hit her a second time as he sped from the scene.

Bowker initially eluded arrest after the attacks by driving the stolen rental car on Crown Valley Parkway toward Interstate 5 at speeds of more than 100 mph, deputies said.

dan.weikel@latimes.com