Illegal immigrant charged with attempted murder in VFW stabbing
Midday update
Kevin Grasha • kgrasha@lsj.com • December 16, 2008 • From LSJ.com

ST. JOHNS — Authorities have charged a 21-year-old man, who they said was living in the U.S. illegally, with attempted murder in connection with a stabbing early Sunday during a dance at a rented VFW hall.

Ricardo Vasquez Orbera and three other men, all of whom authorities say have immigration violations, were arrested by Clinton County deputies soon after the stabbing, which happened at about 12:45 a.m.

Orbera, who lives in Ionia, was arraigned Monday in Clinton County District Court.

He also is charged with possession of cocaine.

The victim, who authorities identified as a 34-year-old Wheeler man, was in good condition Monday at Sparrow Hospital.

The VFW hall, located on U.S. 27, just north of St. Johns, was being rented for the dance, officials said.

Clinton County sheriff’s Detective Sgt. Fritz Sandberg said Orbera and three other men fled in a car after the stabbing.

Sandberg said the stabbing happened after a fight over a woman.

Deputies pulled over the car — which Sandberg said was being driven by 32-year-old Pedro Montiel Cruz — just inside the Ionia County line. Cruz also was living in Ionia.

Cruz is charged with misdemeanor operating a vehicle while intoxicated in addition to the immigration violation.

Both Orbera and Cruz are being held without bond at the Clinton County Jail.
Authorities say the other two men in the car — a 37-year-old man from Ionia and a 23-year-old man from Lake Odessa — are not being charged in the stabbing, although they do have immigration violations.

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