Man stabs woman and Uber driver in southeast Lincoln, police say

LINCOLN, Neb. (KOLN) - The Lincoln Police Department arrested a man they say stabbed a woman he knows and an Uber driver who was picking her up from work.

Wednesday night, around 10 p.m., officers were dispatched to an area of Normal Boulevard and Myrtle Street.

According to LPD, the 911 caller said they were waved down by a woman who had a cut on her wrist and was crying.

LPD said responding officers spoke with the woman who reported she was getting off work, in an area of 48th and Van Dorn, when a man she knows came out from behind a tree with a knife.

Officers said the woman ran to an arriving Uber, which she had called for a ride home, got in, locked the doors and instructed the driver to leave.

The man was close to the car and started stabbing the Uber driver in the face and abdomen through his open window, according to police.

LPD said the man kept trying to stab the woman in the backseat but she was able to deflect his attacks, however her hand was cut.

Police claim the Uber driver accelerated in the parking lot with the man hanging onto the car, but hit a dumpster with enough force to deploy the airbags which caused the man clinging onto the car to stop.

The woman got out of the car and ran to 48th Street for assistance and the suspect ran away, according to LPD.

Officers said they made contact with the suspect after he called roughly an hour later for assistance with his injuries.

All three people involved were taken to the hospital with non-life threatening injuries.

The suspect was identified as 39-year-old Manuel Cevallos-Mendez.

After being medically cleared at the hospital, Cevallos-Mendez was arrested for assault charges and use of a weapon to commit a felony.

Copyright 2023 KOLN. All rights reserved.