Tobias Gutierrez (above in mugshot from the Bernalillo County Metropolitan Detention Center) is suspected of stabbing 11 people on Sunday.
The BMX bike-riding New Mexico man suspected of attacking 11 strangers during a Sunday stabbing spree is behind bars. Officers arrested Tobias Gutierrez, 42, on Sunday after investigating seven crime scenes across the city, according to Officer Gilbert Gallegos of the Albuquerque Police Department.
Officer Gallegos noted that the first stabbing occurred just before noon on Sunday near Sister Bar. The defendant was identified as being a man on a small BMX bike with a large knife, and police were investigating multiple scenes by mid-afternoon. Deputies were eventually able to locate Gutierrez around 6 p.m. on Sunday and inmate records show that law enforcement officials then booked Gutierrez into the Bernalillo County Metropolitan Detention Center at 7:12 a.m. on Monday.
“There doesn’t seem to be any rhyme or reason,” Officer Gallegos said during a news conference Sunday evening. He went on to say that officers first arrived on the scene after calls came in of a man stabbing individuals inside a Circle K convenience store. Most of the men and women who were stabbed sought medical attention; while some were critically injured, all 11 victims were in stable condition by Sunday night, according to Officer Gallegos.
Police booked Tobias Gutierrez into the Bernalillo County Metropolitan detention Center at 7 a.m. on Monday (image courtesy of BCMDC)
Gutierrez is now facing two charges of aggravated battery with a deadly weapon for the stabbings, which also occurred at a homeless encampment, outside a restaurant, and near an apartment complex in the city.
A man Gutierrez allegedly held up at knifepoint — but did not stab or injure — spoke with Albequerque Journal after police were able to apprehend the suspected slasher.
“He was talking crazy, he was angry about something,” said Rob. “As soon as he dropped the bike he pulled his blade out.”
This appears to be far from Gutierrez’s first run-in with the law. Court records indicate that a man of the same name and age has been the defendant in some 19 court cases since 1999, facing charges that range from possession of a controlled substance and driving without a license to burglary and larceny. In February 2015, he was sentenced to three years in prison for being in possession of a firearm and ammunition. Individuals convicted of a felony in New Mexico cannot own, sell, or even carry a firearm.
(New Mexico court records above)
Gutierrez left federal prison in January 2018 but the following month failed his court-ordered drug test, according to a court petition. As a result, he was ordered to spend six months in a rehabilitation program but absconded from the facility before completing his court-mandated six-month stay.
That infraction resulted in his return to prison after he was apprehended by the U.S. Marshal’s Service. It is unclear when he was released from prison, or if he was still on supervised release during his alleged crime spree on Sunday.
