‘Admirable and heroic’: Escondido teen saves mother from knife attack

ESCONDIDO, Calif. —  The attack on his family is kind of a blur until Alberto Suarez closes his eyes. That’s when he sees it, he said, the moment his older cousin burst through the front door of the family’s Escondido home, wielding a knife.

Suarez, 18, was among the first to be stabbed in the Monday morning attack. His mother was also assaulted. She was stabbed in her arms, neck, face, even her eye.

Suarez offered himself as a target, demanding the assailant stab him instead. The Escondido High School senior lured the much older and larger assailant into chasing him down the block until police could arrive.

“I think what he did was admirable and heroic,” Escondido Police Lt. Kevin Toth said Thursday. “The fact that he intervened potentially saved [his mother’s] life.”

About 10:45 a.m. Monday, someone in the home on West Lincoln Avenue called 911 to report some sort of family violence, Toth said. Officers learned that the suspected assailant, identified as Abdiel Sarabia, had “become upset with his family members and attacked his aunt with a knife,” Toth said. He said other family members were also hurt.

Suarez and his older sister, Catherine Rivera Hernandez, said their 16-year-old sister and a 22-year-old female cousin were injured in the attack.

Details of what happened Monday came from Suarez and from Rivera Hernandez, who was away at college at the time of the attack but was on a FaceTime call with her teenage sister before police and paramedics arrived.

Rivera Hernandez said her mother, Carmen Hernandez, saw her 34-year-old nephew Sarabia attacking her 22-year-old niece in their yard late that morning. The families live next to each other.

Carmen Hernandez ran out to intervene, but her nephew struck her, her children said. The mother soon ran back inside. By this time, Suarez had rushed out to see what was happening and closed the door to keep his cousin from getting in.

“He broke the door down,” Suarez said. “Full force, first try.”

Suarez fought to keep the door closed, but he said his cousin muscled in far enough to stab his right arm. A melee followed, and Suarez said he was repeatedly stabbed. His younger sister was stabbed at least once. Then, according to Suarez, Sarabia began to stab his mother.

Rivera Hernandez said her sister and her mother told the same story: Suarez pushed Sarabia and said to stab him instead of his mother. Then Suarez — already suffering from multiple stab wounds — lured his cousin down the road.

Bleeding, the 18-year-old track team member walked and ran, he said, intentionally slow enough to keep the assailant’s attention on him and not on his family. About a quarter-mile down the road, police arrived and arrested Sarabia.

Carmen Hernandez, 56, is a single mother and an assistant manager at a fast-food restaurant. Suarez works there too and gives half his paycheck to his mom to help cover rent and bills.

He’s also a remarkable student, his older sister said, with great grades, membership in school clubs and a spot on his school track team. And he’s been accepted to UC Santa Cruz with plans to study computer science this fall.

Rivera Hernandez, a student at UC Merced, called her brother “a really big hero” who saved their mother’s life. “He was willing to die for her,” she said.

Suarez and his younger sister and their female cousin were treated at a hospital and released the day of the attack. Carmen Hernandez was admitted for treatment.

Rivera Hernandez and Suarez said their mother was released from the hospital Thursday. It’s too soon to know if she will regain sight in her eye, but they said the doctors are optimistic.

The family has created a GoFundMe titled Hernandez Family Recovery Bills. The money will help pay for their recovery and possible need to move.

They also said they are not sure what prompted the attack.

Toth said police “are still investigating what led up to the stabbing and all of the circumstances surrounding the event.”

Police arrested Sarabia on suspicion of attempted murder, assault with a deadly weapon, mayhem and other charges. He remained jailed Thursday, and online jail records indicate he could be arraigned next week.