Cuban in custody for stabbing wife

PATRONS of a restaurant in Diego Martin may have saved the life of a Cuban woman yesterday after she was stabbed in the face by a man, who is also Cuban.

According to police reports, around 9.30 am, the man went to his wife’s job at Al’s Diner in Crystal Stream, Diego Martin and the two had an argument. Police said the man took a knife from the restaurant and stabbed her in the face before attempting to flee. Citizens who witnessed the incident chased and held the man outside the restaurant. He was pinned to the ground and his hands and feet bound with twine until police arrived.

Video of the the man subdued and the woman bleeding was shared on social media. One man in the recording was heard chastising the attacker telling him that they fled their country for a better life only to come to TT and do something like that. The couple were first thought to be Venezuelans. Up to 7.30 pm, police could not identify the victim as they had difficulty finding a translator.

Officers of the Western Division Task Force responded to the call and arrested the suspect. The woman was taken to the St James Medical Facility and transferred to the Port of Spain General Hospital. The attacker is at the Four Roads Police Station and will be interviewed with the assistance of a translator. Cpl Mohammed of the Four Roads Police Station is continuing enquiries. Police said the Immigration Division is assisting in determining the legality of the couple.

Cubans have been in the spotlight recently after 78 asy­lum seek­ers ac­cused of en­gag­ing in an il­le­gal protest in front of the Unit­ed Na­tions build­ing, Chancery Lane were sen­tenced to two days in prison.

On November 20, the group were sentenced after spending five days in prison. The group was the second group charged with ob­struct­ing the free pas­sage­way outside the building for the year, which was one of the consideration taken by Mag­is­trate Sa­nara Toon-Mc­Quilkin. The group pleaded guilty to the offence after five days in custody and faced a max­i­mum sen­tence of a $200 fine or up to a month in prison.