2 Hurt in Attack; Man Is Arrested

A man was arrested Thursday after he allegedly broke into his estranged wife’s North Hollywood home, slashed her throat and stabbed her boyfriend’s father in the head with a kitchen knife, police said.

The couple’s 14-year-old daughter and 5-year-old son witnessed the stabbings, and the daughter was cut on a hand when she tried to protect her mother, said Sgt. John Pasquariello of the Los Angeles Police Department’s North Hollywood Division.

Diane Lopez, 31, was in critical condition at County-USC Medical Center with a gash to her throat, and her boyfriend’s father, Hector Salgado, 60, was in serious condition at Providence Holy Cross Medical Center in Mission Hills, hospital spokeswomen said.

Gaspar Perez Lopez, 36, was arrested on suspicion of attempted murder, police said. He is being held at Van Nuys Jail in lieu of $2-million bail.

Perez Lopez went to his estranged wife’s home in the 7300 block of North Beck Avenue about 8 a.m. to take one of their five children to school, police said. He returned to the house soon afterward and asked to enter, but Lopez refused, police said.

“That angered him to the point where he grabbed some large rocks and started bashing in the front bedroom window, which faced the street,” Pasquariello said.

As Perez Lopez climbed in, Lopez, Salgado and the two children ran to a bathroom.

About 8:20, a woman in the house, who investigators believe was Lopez, called police to report the break-in. A few minutes later, police received a second call, from the daughter, who said her father was trying kill her mother.

Perez Lopez broke down the bathroom door and began to attack Lopez, police said. When Salgado tried to intervene, Perez Lopez brandished a 9-inch kitchen knife, cutting Salgado on the head and neck and slashing Lopez’s throat, police said.

Police arrived a few minutes later to the sound of the children’s screams and arrested Perez Lopez on suspicion of attempted murder, authorities said. It was unclear Thursday where Lopez’s boyfriend and the two other children were during the incident.

Longtime residents of the neighborhood said Lopez and Perez Lopez moved in two years ago, and separated six months ago when he moved to Las Vegas for a job.