A 21-year-old Fort Collins stabbing victim and his girlfriend fled into a King Soopers store Sunday night after being attacked by two men near a bus stop, Fort Collins police said Monday.
The victim was identified as Gerald Batrez, who was stabbed multiple times during a disturbance near a bus stop on Elizabeth Street near Taft Hill Road.
Fort Collins police spokeswoman Rita Davis said witnesses told police that Batrez and a 20-year- old woman were walking near the bus stop on the north side of Elizabeth Street near the King Soopers when they were approached by two men and two women. Words were exchanged and a fight ensued, said Davis.
During the assault, a man identified by police as Tranquilino Mercado pulled out a knife and stabbed Batrez twice in the right arm and once in the left side, said Davis. Batrez and his companion went to the King Soopers, where employees contacted police.
About two hours later, police arrested Mercado and Jesse Martinez, both 19 and both of Fort Collins, in the 600 block of Gallup Street.
Both men were transported to the Larimer County Detention Center for investigation of first- degree assault, a Class 3 felony. Davis said the assault was “possibly gang-motivated.”
