Stabbing suspect faces arraignment

GLENDALE — A Sunland man arrested after allegedly stabbing the host of a Glendale party and then hiding out within a police perimeter for more than six hours is scheduled to be arraigned today.

Enrique Baraja, 24, was arrested on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon before noon Saturday after hiding from police for more than six hours in a North Glendale neighborhood, Glendale Police Sgt. Tom Lorenz said.

“He was trying to stay one step ahead of us,” Lorenz said.

Officers were able to track him down with the help of several North Glendale residents who had been following the police search throughout the morning.

The Police Department received a call about 3:40 a.m. that day from a woman requesting help at a home on the 3700 block of Altura Avenue, but the call dropped.

Shortly after officers arrived at the home to find about a dozen partygoers dispersing, the woman called back and told dispatchers that a man in a white tank top had just stabbed someone at the home.

Witnesses described the man as having the word “Maywood” tattooed on his chin — signifying gang affiliation.

The man, police say, was Baraja, who got into a verbal shouting match before fighting.

Baraja allegedly pulled out a knife and stabbed the party host in the neck, but the injuries he sustained were not life-threatening. His identity was not released.

Another partygoer suffered minor injuries when he tried to break up the fight, police said.

Police quickly surrounded the home and neighborhood in an effort to find Baraja, with county sheriff’s deputies and police dogs brought in to assist with the search, Lorenz said.

They eventually tracked down Baraja, who was covered in dirt from trying to hide from police, Lorenz said.

Baraja is being held in lieu of $35,000 bail.