Valley canal paths have become a fairly popular venue for doom and gloom as of late, with a Tempe man found either murdered or a suicide victim a few weeks ago and the stabbing and robbery of a Phoenix man yesterday morning.
Phoenix police Sergeant Trent Crump tells New Times that about 10 a.m. yesterday, a 39-year-old man and his 46-year-old girlfriend were walking on Indian Trail near 36th and Van Buren streets along the canal bank in Phoenix.
The two were on their way home from grabbing breakfast when they were approached by a man on a bike.
The suspect, Crump says, got off his bike and sucker-punched the male victim in the face before throwing the woman to the ground.
The male victim, in an extraordinary display of chivalry, jumped to his feet and took off running -- leaving the woman behind with the robber.
The robber chased the man, Crump says, caught up with him a couple hundred yards away, stabbed him in the shoulder, and stole his wallet.
The suspect got away with an undisclosed amount of cash as he fled on his bike, and the male victim -- who was treated and released for non-life threatening injuries -- probably has some explaining to do to his girlfriend.
Crump says, as far as he can tell, the attack is not related to a murder or suicide that happened along a canal path in Tempe earlier this month.
Check out the details of that case here.
According to Crump, the theory the fuzz are currently working with is that someone at the restaurant where the two had eaten breakfast saw the victims had money, followed them to the canal path, and attacked them.
The best description the victims had for police, Crump says, was that the suspect was white and wearing a hat.
Um, that should really narrow it down.
