A transient has been arrested in connection with the Sunday night stabbing of a Motel 6 employee in Santa Maria, police said.
Ashley Powell, 24, was taken into custody by Santa Maria police, Sgt. Paul Flores from the Detectives Bureau confirmed Friday.
Officers were dispatched to a reported stabbing at 10:20 p.m., and found an female employee at the Motel 6, 1007 E. Main St., had received two non-life-threatening stab wounds during a confrontation with a woman.
“The motive for the stabbing is unclear, however the victim and Powell did not know each other prior to the attack,” police said.
After the incident, police released surveillance camera photos of the woman suspected in the stabbing and sought the public’s help in identifying and locating her.
Soon after the release of the photo, a citizen reported seeing Powell in the 1000 block of East Main Street. Patrol officers found the woman nearby in the 200 block of South Nicholson Avenue and arrested her without incident.
“The Santa Maria Police Department would like to thank the public for their help bringing this case to a quick resolution.”
This was one of two stabbings police investigated in Santa Maria on Sunday night, with first incident leaving a 42-year-old Nipomo man dead.
— Noozhawk North County editor Janene Scully can be reached at jscully@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.