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Four victims wounded in two separate knife attacks
By Sam Scott
Four stabbings in two unrelated altercations on April 23 sent three people to the hospital.
A San Jose teen allegedly stabbed three people during a large brawl in downtown Sunnyvale early Easter morning. In an unrelated incident, Sunnyvale Police arrested another teen for stabbing an acquaintance who interfered in a fight.
Police arrested Adis Pilavzic, 19, shortly after the downtown altercation and tansported him to Santa Clara County jail. Nine other individuals were cited for misdemeanors relating to the fight, which erupted shortly before 1 a.m.. The incident occurred in a parking lot next to Murphy Avenue, said Sunnyvale Public Safety Lieutenant Tom Piatanesi.
Piatanesi said the victims and suspect had been inside the Del Monte Building on the north end of Murphy Avenue attending a concert. He said a verbal argument, sparked by someone stepping on a person's foot, may have sparked the violence.
About 20 people were involved in the ensuing fight, which took place in the outside parking lot between Sunnyvale Avenue and Murphy Avenue, he said.
Maria Glass, a bartender at a nearby bar, said the fight went far beyond the occasional confrontations she sees downtown.
"I've been here 10 years," she said, "And that's the biggest melee I've ever seen. It's something that should be in the movies."
Police arrived after getting a 911 call at 12:58 a.m., Piatanes said.
Glass said she saw officers with guns drawn.
Seeing the first officers arrive, many of the men reportedly fled. During pursuit on foot, officers said they saw Adis drop a weapon, which Piatanesi described as a hunting knife with a six-inch blade. Officers arrested Adis and booked him into Santa Clara County Jail on three counts of assault with a deadly weapon and one count of possession of a deadly weapon.
Police cited nine others individuals for disturbing the peace and fleeing police officers. They were released at the scene.
Piatanesi said the individuals involved ranged in age from late teens to 40-years-old or older. Several of those cited appeared to be relatives, he said, with the same last names and addresses.
Paramedics transported Amir Hodzic, 25, and Almez Velic, 25, to El Camino Hospital with wounds to the fronts and backs of their torsos. They were still hospitalized, though in stable condition, as of last week. A third victim, Samir Alickovic, 34, sought medical attention on his own, Piatanesi said. The victims were all from San Francisco.
In the second unrelated stabbing, the victim, Jose Perez, 27, apparently tried to break up a pushing match in an apartment complex in the 800 block of San Aleso Ave. Piatanesi said police responded to a 911 call around 2 a.m. Police found the victim, a Sunnyvale resident, sitting on a step, bleeding from his wounds. He had reportedly been stabbed twice on his right leg and once on his left leg with a small-bladed knife.
Piatanesi said a canine unit tracked Adrian Rodriguez, 19, to a nearby backyard, where he was hiding in the bushes. Police arrested him and booked him into county jail on one count of assault with a deadly weapon.
Sunnyvale Public Safety Chief Ernie Bakin said the level of violence in the two incidents was unusual.
"It's very rare," he said. "And we hope to keep it that way."
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Sunnyvale, California Since 1994
