Man dies 3 days after he’s stabbed at trolley station

alex.riggins@sduniontribune.com

SAN DIEGO

A 43-year-old man died in a hospital Tuesday morning from stab wounds he suffered three days earlier at a trolley station in San Diego’s Palm City neighborhood, a homicide lieutenant said.

Police did not release the victim’s name, but said he died around 5:20 a.m. Tuesday at a hospital. He was fatally injured during a fight late Saturday afternoon at the Palm Avenue Station near Palm Avenue and Hollister Street, according to San Diego police homicide Lt. Andra Brown.

On the night of the stabbing, police said the victim’s two stab wounds were serious, but not lifethreatening.

Patrol officers arrested 20-yearold Jose Alvarez Rangel shortly after the stabbing on suspicion of atviolation tempted murder, Brown said. He has since been re-booked into the San Diego Central Jail on suspicion of murder, and is being held without bail as he waits to be arraigned.

Detectives believe that around 4:45 p.m. Saturday, the victim and his wife got into some sort of altercation with Rangel and a 19-yearold woman who was accompanying him, Brown said in a news release. During the altercation at the Metropolitan Transit System trolley station, Rangel allegedly stabbed the victim twice before fleeing toward Palm Avenue with his companion.

While some officers detained Rangel and the woman a short distance away, others tended to the victim, who suffered injuries to his torso, Brown said.

Gang detectives were initially assigned to investigate the case, according to a Saturday news release from Officer Robert Heims. Homicide detectives took over the investigation Tuesday morning.

While Rangel remained jailed Tuesday, his companion — who Brown said was arrested on charges unrelated to the stabbing — was no longer listed as an inmate in online custody records.

Homicide detectives are looking to speak with anyone who may have witnessed the altercation at the trolley stop Saturday. Anyone with information about that fight and slaying were asked to call the homicide unit at (619) 531-2293 or San Diego County Crime Stoppers’ anonymous tip line at (888) 580-8477.