An 18-year-old man was arrested Thursday night after police say he attacked two women with a knife in downtown St. Petersburg. Witnesses held the suspect at the scene until officers arrived and took him into custody. One woman suffered a head wound that was not considered life-threatening, and both victims were taken to the hospital for evaluation. The arrest has stirred fresh concerns about late-night safety downtown as investigators work to sort out the details.<\/p>\n
Police identified the suspect as 18-year-old Rodrigo Romero and say he was charged with attempted murder and aggravated assault after the confrontation unfolded just after 10:30 p.m. near the U.S. Postal Service at 76 4th Street North. Officers say Romero allegedly used a table knife against two women before witnesses stepped in and detained him until police could respond, according to WTSP<\/a>.<\/p>\n Where it happened<\/p>\n The attack happened on a busy block of downtown where bars, restaurants and foot traffic stay active into the night. The St. Petersburg Police Department has asked anyone with video or tips to contact detectives and said it is working to gather evidence and interview witnesses, according to a news release from the St. Petersburg Police Department<\/a>. The department also scheduled a candlelight vigil on April 23 to honor lives lost to violence, and the release lists contact numbers for tips and press inquiries.<\/p>\n Charges and legal context<\/p>\n Romero faces attempted murder and aggravated assault charges, which under Florida law are serious felonies that can carry lengthy prison terms if he is convicted. The state\u2019s homicide provisions apply to attempted murder, and Chapter 784 of the Florida Statutes defines aggravated assault as an assault “with a deadly weapon without intent to kill,” a third-degree felony, according to the Florida Statutes on murder<\/a> and Chapter 784<\/a>. Prosecutors will ultimately decide how to formally pursue the case after reviewing the evidence that detectives submit to the state attorney\u2019s office.<\/p>\n Police response and next steps<\/p>\n Romero remained in custody and is expected to be booked into the Pinellas County jail as detectives finish processing the scene and forward their findings to prosecutors. Officials have urged anyone who witnessed the incident or has relevant video to contact the department\u2019s tip line or media relations office, as outlined in a release from the St. Petersburg Police Department<\/a>. Local leaders said they are monitoring the investigation and have asked residents to share any information that could help identify additional witnesses.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"An 18-year-old man was arrested Thursday night after police say he attacked two women with a knife in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":244890,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[202,204,203,199,201,200],"class_list":{"0":"post-244889","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-st-petersburg","8":"tag-st-pete","9":"tag-st-pete-headlines","10":"tag-st-pete-news","11":"tag-st-petersburg","12":"tag-st-petersburg-headlines","13":"tag-st-petersburg-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/244889","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=244889"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/244889\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/244890"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=244889"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=244889"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=244889"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}