Authorities on Tuesday arrested a 29-year-old Sacramento man on suspicion of stabbing another fan during Sunday's Mexico-Qatar soccer match at Levi's Stadium, Santa Clara police announced Wednesday.
Alejandro Garcia-Villanueva was arrested without incident at his home in Sacramento and was later booked into Santa Clara County Main Jail, police said.
Thanks to "advanced video technology" at the stadium and "vital community input," detectives managed to identify the suspect as Garcia-Villanueva within 24 hours of the stabbing, police said. A person of interest in the case was also identified, but detectives determined that she did not commit a crime.
Detectives crafted an arrest warrant for Garcia-Villanueva for attempted murder, police said. After the warrant was authorized, detectives contacted Garcia-Villanueva at about 7:30 p.m. Tuesday on the 3300 block of 22nd Avenue in Sacramento. He surrendered and was taken into custody.
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Video footage from inside the stadium during Sunday's CONCACAF Gold Cup group stage match showed several fans of Mexico fighting in the stands before the stabbing occurred.
The stabbing victim, Emmanuel Díaz Leal, said his attacker missed his heart and neck just by a few inches.
Díaz Leal is expected to make a full recovery.
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The Mexican soccer federation issued a statement to “roundly condemn these acts of violence,” and it offered to work with local authorities to avoid such events in the future.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
