Three Stabbed At Orem Denny’s; Suspect In Custody
Mar 6, 2021, 1:51 PM
(Greg Anderson)
(Greg Anderson)
OREM, Utah – Officials with the Orem Police Department said a 21-year-old man has been arrested after three people were stabbed at an Orem Denny’s restaurant Friday.
Police said Joshua Oropeza was booked into the Utah County Jail on charges of attempted homicide and disorderly conduct, along with three counts of aggravated assault.
Officers said the first victim was stabbed in the neck, close to his spine, and in one of his hands. Police said doctors told the victim “the laceration on his left hand was so deep, it cut the tendon and he has no function for 2 of his fingers.”
The second victim suffered a broken ankle during a fight for the knife and a third suffered a stab wound to his left arm.
Police said Oropeza tried to stab a fourth person but was unsuccessful.
** Update on Stabbing**
On 03/05/2021 Officers were dispatched on a report of a stabbing which had occurred at a local …
Posted by Orem Police Department on Saturday, March 6, 2021
The first victim told police he and another witness drove Oropeza to the restaurant. The victim noticed Oropeza was acting strangely before he pulled out a knife and tried to stab the victim.
The victim told police “he ran into the restaurant and was followed in by (Oropeza). (Oropeza) chased him back into the kitchen area and stabbed him in the neck.”
According to a probable cause statement, the wound hit the victim’s bone and was approximately 1 inch away from being fatal.
The third victim followed Oropeza and the first victim into the kitchen and tried to separate them. The group went to the floor where Oropeza allegedly stabbed the victim “with such force, it chipped a piece off of his arm bone.”
The second victim told police he was in the restaurant when he heard yelling and “something about someone being a snitch.”
He attempted to help others hold down Oropeza when Oropeza wrapped around his legs and he heard a “pop.”
“Victim 2 was taken to the hospital where an x-ray revealed his ankle had been broken,” police said.
Officers said Oropeza was recently released from juvenile parole in August 2020, where he was arrested after stabbing a man after the man refused to buy drugs from him.
Oropeza was booked into jail Friday after receiving medical attention.
