(Jesse James Graham: Santa Rosa Police Department)
Police in Santa Rosa have arrested a man after he crazily stabbed an unsuspecting woman Tuesday night as she tried to unlock her apartment door.
Jesse James Graham, 40, a Santa Rosa-area homeless person, was arrested Wednesday afternoon following an overnight search and stakeout.
A masked Graham approached the 50-year-old woman at the apartment complex on Jennings Avenue near Range Avenue as she tried to enter her residence, quickly assaulted her and then fled the scene.
Despite blocking his face with a hat and t-shirt wrapped around his face, because of his distinctive tattoos, he was identified as the suspect through surveillance video that captured the violent attack.
Graham was booked into Sonoma County Jail on $1 million bail for suspicion of attempted murder, Santa Rosa Police Sgt. Josh Ludtke said.
The 50-year-old woman was seriously wounded but expected to survive, Ludtke said. Police didn’t release the woman’s name because they think the suspect doesn’t know her identity and they are still investigating a motive for the stabbing, according the Press Democrat.
In the surveillance footage, you can see the woman walking across the parking lot to her front door when Graham stalks her and walks up behind her as she fumbles for her keys then he brutally stabs her.
She was stabbed with what police suspect was a 5-inch knife that caused potentially life-threatening internal injuries including a punctured lung, Ludtke said.
Graham is a transient known to frequent the area and attends the same gym as the victim where she says she has seen him before but has never interacted with him and does not know his identity.
Court records show Graham has prior arrests on suspected drug possession and disorderly conduct charges.
He was convicted in 2012 of felony vandalism and burglary and given a one-year jail sentence.
Graham is scheduled to be arraigned in Sonoma County Superior Court at 1:30 p.m. on Tuesday.