Duluth Man Charged with Stabbing Wife at Downtown Shelter

Oct 2

A Duluth man is accused of stabbing his wife in the back outside the Damiano Center in downtown Duluth late Saturday night.

Police were called to the shelter on West 4th Street around 9:45 p.m. Sept. 27 after witnesses reported a man had punched a woman.

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When officers arrived, they found the woman lying in a pool of blood with a stab wound near her spine. Medics provided aid at the scene before she was transported for treatment.

Witnesses told officers they saw the man lunge at her before she collapsed. Police detained 47-year-old Yobbiyatay Thomas Villa Rodriguez nearby. He had blood on his hands and admitted he had been carrying a knife, though he said he no longer had it. Officers later recovered the weapon in the spot he described discarding it.

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The victim initially told police she thought she had been punched. Surveillance footage confirmed Rodriguez had lunged at her with the knife. She later told investigators she and Rodriguez have been married for four years.

Rodriguez is charged in St. Louis County with second-degree assault with a dangerous weapon and misdemeanor domestic assault. His bail was set at $40,000 with conditions that include no contact with the victim.

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