Suspect Is Behind Bars For Two Assaults In South Lincoln Wednesday Night

LINCOLN–(KFOR Mar. 23)–Two people were assaulted by a man with a knife late Wednesday night in the area of 48th and Van Dorn.

According to Lincoln Police Sgt. Chris Vollmer, a 19-year-old woman got off work and was approached by a man she knew, 39-year-old Manuel Cevallos-Mendez, who had a knife with him. The woman had called for a ride home, got inside the vehicle and locked the doors, telling the driver to leave.

The Uber driver, a 43-year-old man, was stabbed in his face and abdomen, while the woman suffered a cut on her wrist as she tried to fend off Cevallos-Mendez as he was reaching inside the vehicle. After the car hit a dumpster, Cevallos-Mendez was knocked away from the car and later took off.  The woman was later found asking for help by a passerby near 48th and Normal Boulevard.

Cevallos-Mendez was caught an hour later and arrested for first-degree assault, 2nd-degree domestic assault and use of a weapon to commit a felony. Everyone checked out at the hospital was treated for non life-threatening injuries.