POLICE SAY STABBING AT BRIDGE WAS ROBBERY
Woman in stable condition after attack under bridge.
WEST PALM BEACH — An attack on a woman underneath a West Palm Beach bridge Sunday is being called an attempted robbery and aggravated battery, city police said Monday in releasing a photo of a man they wish to question about the incident.
The photo, taken from behind as the man stood on the underpass to the Royal Park Bridge, came to the attention of city police through Crime Stoppers of Palm Beach County.
There had been no arrests in the stabbing as of Monday afternoon. The woman was in stable condition at a hospital, said Sgt. David Lefont, West Palm Beach police spokesman.
The stabbing was the second downtown in the past month. A homeless man is in the Palm Beach County Jail and charged with attempted first-degree murder in an attack on a woman who was in the outdoor seating area of a Clematis Street restaurant.
As joggers, cyclists and walkers moved along along the waterfront Monday morning, some voiced concerns about safety in the area.
One woman riding her bicycle said she typically does so each day and happened upon Sunday’s stabbing scene moments after it happened.
“It was just scary. It was shocking,” said the woman, who declined to give her name. “If I had been here two minutes earlier, that could have been me laying there.”
The woman said she considered not taking her ride Monday, but changed her mind.
“I wasn’t going to come today but, you know what, I’m not going to let this beat me,” she said. “I need to get back on my bike and show I can still do this.”
The woman said she has seen unfamiliar people, including some who appeared to be homeless, congregating near the bridge, the middle span of the three linking West Palm Beach to Palm Beach.
“This area has to be protected more,” she said.
Another woman walking in the area said the stabbing frightened her.
“I’ve never felt frightened before,” said the woman, who also did not want to be named. She added: “Now I’m not sure if I want to walk underneath this bridge any more.”
Lefont said that crime in the downtown area is down 11 percent compared to the same point in 2017, and down 26 percent citywide.
“We have a lot of resources already devoted to downtown, and I’m sure we’ll be increasing that as well,” he said.