Thread: Man charged,stabbing of ex-girlfriend's companion in Wheaton

Man charged in stabbing of ex-girlfriend's companion in Wheaton

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By Dan Morse

Tuesday, April 27, 2010

Breakups can set off all kinds of reactions. Phone calls to the ex. Jealousy. Sadness.

Edwin Escobar-Salmeron, to hear a Montgomery County prosecutor tell it in court Monday, took things to his own level.

Seated behind the wheel of a Toyota Camry late Friday, he saw his ex-girlfriend leave a Wheaton bar and climb into her Honda Accord with four others, authorities said. He rammed the side of the Honda, crashing it into a parked car; got out and banged on the Honda's windows; and approached a man who'd exited the Honda and stabbed him five times, four of them in the chest, according to police charging documents.

"His ex-girlfriend was out at a bar with another person. He apparently didn't like that," Assistant State's Attorney Danielle Sartwell said in court, arguing successfully that Escobar-Salmeron should remain held without bond.

Escobar-Salmeron, 29, of Adelphi was charged with attempted first-degree murder, first-degree assault, stalking, reckless endangerment and malicious destruction of property, police said. Authorities say he is a member of the MS-13 gang and might be in the country illegally.

The 27-year-old stabbing victim, whom officers said they found "completely unresponsive" lying on a sidewalk, was taken to a hospital. He is expected to survive.

In court Monday, Sartwell said Escobar-Salmeron's immigration status made him a flight risk, noting that federal agents have placed an immigration detainer on him. In 2005, she said, he had been deported after two convictions for reckless endangerment in the county.

A witness at the crash and stabbing scene also said Escobar-Salmeron had been deported.

But it was unclear, according to court records, whether he had ever left the country.

In 2006, Escobar-Salmeron was present at two court hearings in Montgomery in an unsuccessful bid to get a new trial on the reckless endangerment charges, according to court records. That conviction stemmed from a 2003 incident in which he threatened four people with a machete, according to police accounts.


Ernestine Fobbs, a spokeswoman for Immigration and Customs Enforcement, declined to comment, as did Sartwell. According to court records, Escobar-Salmeron has not obtained an attorney.

In Friday's case, police say Escobar-Salmeron followed the group and rammed the Honda a short distance away. A witness gave officers five digits of the Toyota's license plate, which the witness said was blue, leading officers to suspect that it was a "Chesapeake Bay" tag. They put "CB" after the five numbers, giving them the full tag number, which led them to Escobar-Salmeron, according to charging documents.


http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/co ... 03829.html

Ernestine Fobbs, a spokeswoman for Immigration and Customs Enforcement, declined to comment

Well who would want to go on record saying "Simply threatening someone with a machete is not a good reason to deport."