SAN FRANCISCO (KRON) — The suspect in an unprovoked knife attack on BART earlier this month that left a victim with critical injuries has been charged with attempted murder. On Tuesday, San Francisco District Attorney Brooke Jenkins’ office announced that Jovany Portades had been charged with one count of attempted murder.
Portades, 34, is due to be arraigned Tuesday at the San Francisco Hall of Justice. Portades, according to court documents, boarded an Antioch-bound BART train at Balboa station. On the train, the suspect allegedly attacked a female passenger without provocation as the train approached the 24th Street/Mission station.
Court docs indicate that Portades attacked a woman riding on the train from behind with a knife, cutting and slashing at her neck, face and mouth as she tried to fight him off. Portades then ran off as the train arrived at the station.
Following the attack, the victim was able to exit the train and get help from BART and San Francisco police officers at the scene. She was taken to the hospital with life-threatening injuries.
Portades was arrested the following day by BART Police at the Fruitvale Station after having been spotted by a station agent. He was taken into custody without incident, the DA said.
“Public transit systems must be safe for all passengers,” said DA Jenkins. “The brutal unprovoked attack of a woman on a BART train in San Francisco was tragic and truly shocking. This incident sent chills across the Bay Area as we live in a deeply interconnected region where what happens in one jurisdiction echoes across city and county lines.”
The criminal complaint, according to the DA, alleges that Portades personally and intentionally used a deadly weapon in the commission of the crime, that he personally and intentionally inflicted great bodily injury to the victim, and that he is ineligible for probation.
Prosecutors have moved to have him detained pending trial due to the public safety risk he poses.
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