A Southern California man remains hospitalized after he was brutally beaten and stabbed in the head by his neighbor.
On July 22, the victim, Michael Roque, 35, left his Loma Linda apartment and walked to his car around 8:30 a.m. on his way to work.
That's when Roque's neighbor, Mark Eldridge, 37, allegedly approached him from behind and hit him in the head with a rock. He continued to hit Roque with the rock and attempted to slit his throat before stabbing him in the side of the face and head with a knife.
San Bernardino County officers arrived on the scene and found Roque lying on the ground, bleeding profusely.
“It was a nightmare,” said Raul Gomez, Roque's father. “That's the only way I could say it at that moment. You can't believe something like that would happen.”
According to his family, Roque and the suspect did not know each other at all.
He was rushed to Loma Linda Medical Center, where he remained in an induced coma in the ICU. Gomez believes the suspect targeted Roque and waited for the right moment to strike.
Authorities initially received a call from Roque reporting the attack. Around the same time, they also received a call from Eldridge claiming a burglary had occurred at his apartment.
Officers later determined that there was “no evidence of a break-in or any evidence of a break-in” at Eldridge's home.
However, evidence of the attack was found and Eldridge was arrested for assault with a deadly weapon. He was later booked into the West Valley Detention Center for attempted murder and is being held on $500,000 bail.
On Saturday, loved ones said Roque had woken up from his coma and could speak a little, but still seemed disoriented and confused. Doctors said a 3- to 4-inch portion of the knife used to attack him was still lodged in his head.
“Doctors told Michael if they take it out he’s going to bleed to death and if they leave it in it could cause an infection and possibly kill him,” Jaime Roque, the victim’s cousin, said on a GoFundMe page. “Doctors let Michael make the decision and he said he has to keep it in.”
Relatives said Roque worked at Loma Linda Medical Center before recently taking a new job at UC Riverside. They hope he makes a full recovery soon.
“He's a happy, happy kid,” Gomez said emotionally of his son. “He loves life, loves his job, loves his friends. Just a great kid.”
The motive behind the brutal attack is still under investigation.
A GoFundMe page to help Roque's family with medical expenses can be found here.
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