A previously deported illegal immigrant from Honduras was arrested Sunday, authorities said, following an intense manhunt in Indiana after he was deemed a person of interest in the random stabbing of a teen girl at a baseball game.
The manhunt for Dimas Gabriel Yanez, 26, began Saturday after a 14-year-old girl was stabbed in the hand with a butcher-style knife while at her brother’s baseball game in unincorporated Lowell, Indiana, the Lake County Sheriff’s Office said.
When the girl’s mother tried to help, the suspect also tried to stab the mother before fleeing, according to authorities. The teen has since been treated and released from a hospital.
Authorities recovered a knife believed to have been used in the attack and named Yanez as a person of interest, warning the public that he should be considered armed and dangerous.
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As the extensive search continued into Sunday, the sheriff's office said that Yanez was spotted in the southern part of Lake County.
Yanez was apprehended later Sunday afternoon after a police officer with the sheriff’s department spotted him running through a cornfield, according to the sheriff’s office.
Investigators believe Yanez was in the process of trying to cut his hair to change his appearance and evade law enforcement just before he was apprehended.
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The sheriff’s office said Yanez had previously been deported to Honduras in 2018 and "may have been engaged in criminal activity across the United States since returning to the country illegally."
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security was notified of Yanez’s arrest on Sunday, the sheriff's office said.
"I would like to extend my most heartfelt gratitude to each and every Lake County police officer and to all law enforcement agencies working tirelessly on the investigation and search in this case," Sheriff Oscar Martinez Jr. said. "I am proud of the level of cooperation exhibited by police officers throughout the county."
Yanez remains in custody at the Lake County Jail. No information about whether Yanez is facing any charges was immediately provided.
The sheriff’s office said the investigation is ongoing and more details will be provided as they become available.
