San Juan Capistrano : Man, 23, Is Stabbed in the Chest and on Cheek

A 23-year-old man was stabbed outside his home early Thursday after an argument with another man, who may have fled in the victim’s car, authorities said.

Sheriff’s Department spokesman Lt. Bob Rivas said Teodoro Villegas Martinez was in serious but stable condition Thursday afternoon at Mission Community Hospital in Mission Viejo.

Martinez was stabbed in the chest and cut on the cheek in the 1 a.m. attack, Rivas said.

An anonymous phone call reporting “a man down in the street” brought sheriff’s deputies to Paseo Carolina, Rivas said. He said deputies found Martinez wounded in the chest.

The assailant, described as a man in his early 20s, drove off in Martinez’s 1974 blue Ford sedan, license plate 274 KPB, Rivas said. Investigators say they believe that the man may still be driving the vehicle.