Man who fled to New York after stabbing faces charges

HARTFORD — A man who allegedly stabbed a woman at least 30 times New Year’s Day in Hartford and kidnapped her 6-yearold son, then was found in New York City, is back to Connecticut to f ace charges, police said Tuesday.

Edgar Manuel Maldonado, 23, whose last known address was on Nilan Street in Hartford, had been held as a fugitive from justice since Jan. 2, when he was arrested in Manhattan. Maldonado is scheduled to be arraigned Wednesday at 10 a.m. in Superior Court in Hartford.

The stabbing happened during a domestic dispute just before 2 a.m. Jan. 1 in the southwest corner of Hartford, according to police. Police said 911 callers reported that “a woman covered in blood was in distress and screaming for help near 77 Natick St.

Hartford police said Tuesday the victim and her son were in a vehicle with Maldonado when the stabbings took place. The victim managed to escape, but Maldonado fled with the boy, the victim’s son from a previous relationship, police said.

The woman was taken to Hartford Hospital for emergency surgery, and police issued a nationwide alert for the vehicle Maldonado was driving. The victim’s son also was entered into a nationwide database for children who are missing and suspected of being in danger.

About 3 1⁄ hours after

2 the assault, the boy was found wandering on Providence Street in Worcester, Mass., by local police. The vehicle Maldonado was driving also was located in the city, but police did not find Maldonado after an extensive search.

Then, about 5:30 a.m. Jan. 2, police in Hartford got a tip from a “cooperating witness” that Maldonado was at a MacDonald’s in Midtown Manhattan. The NYPD quickly took Maldonado into custody.

Maldonado was brought back to Hartford on Tues- day and charged with attempted murder, seconddegree kidnapping, first-degree assault and risk of injury to a minor. In addition, he faces two unrelated charges of violation of probation.

Maldonado is being held on a $700,000 bond and two separate, unrelated violation of probation warrants of $100,000 each.

Initially, the Massachusetts Department of Children and Families took temporary custody of the boy and worked with Connecticut DCF staff and the boy’s relatives.

Police said the woman who was stabbed has been discharged from the hospital and is staying at an undisclosed location.