Throat-slashing victim recovering after boxcutter attack

A victim involved in a triple-stabbing at a downtown El Paso night club Tuesday night reached out to ABC-7 on Friday, sending a picture of his wound to the station, along with the caption: “This is what that psycho did to me!!!”

He received 15 stitches in his neck and a tracheotomy after he was stabbed with a boxcutter. He’s likely to be released from University Medical Center on Monday, he said. He didn’t want to speak on camera without first speaking to his attorney, because he intends to sue the club where the stabbing happened.

The victim was at a concert Tuesday at Tricky Falls night club on the 200-block of El Paso Street, he said. He went to the bar to get a drink shortly after 10 p.m., saw suspect Jesus Manuel Ortega, 30, a stranger. Ortega was sitting at the bar with many empty shot glasses, the victim told ABC-7.

Unexpectedly, the victim felt a sensation on his neck, saw blood all over his shirt, and realized Ortega had slit his throat. The victim felt no pain, he said, and wrestled Ortega to the ground, but not before Ortega stabbed two other victims.

Club security staff did not intervene, the victim said.

But a second victim told El Paso police that club security did intervene, according to a police affidavit. He saw the two men wrestling, when Ortega allegedly swung at him, he told police. The second victim blocked a few blows but was still slashed. He has a 2.5-inch cut on his neck, a chest puncture and cuts on his ear and back. A third victim suffered a cut to his face. All three are expected to make full recoveries.

Ortega is charged with two counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. He’s being held at the El Paso County Jail on a $150,000 bond. He could face additional charges.

The suspect was arrested in 2010 for public intoxication, according to county records. Ortega was very drunk at the concert Tuesday night, according to the victim who reached out to ABC-7, and even defecated after the victims wrestled him to the ground.

Tricky Falls staff performed bag searches and pat-downs before the concert, club owners said. Management was satisfied with the way security contained the situation, they said, but will review their security measures to see if anything more could have been done to prevent the stabbings.