A staffer for Republican Senator Rand Paul was stabbed multiple times and left with life-threatening injuries in Washington, D.C., on Saturday. Police officers were dispatched to the scene at 5:17 p.m. where they found the staffer and transported him to a local hospital.
Phill Todd, 26, was walking out of a restaurant with a friend at the 1300 block of H street, Northeast. The area is known for its nightlife, restaurants, and bars, and is about 1.5 miles away from the U.S. Capitol.
“This past weekend a member of my staff was brutally attacked in broad daylight,” Paul, R-KY, said in a statement to ABC News on Monday. “I ask you to join [wife] Kelley and me in praying for a speedy and complete recovery, and thanking the first responders, hospital staff, and police for their diligent actions.”
The Metropolitan Police Department arrested Glynn Neal, 42, and charged him with Assault with Intent to Kill (Knife), according to a press release. Federal prison records show that Neal had just been released from prison a day earlier. Neal spent 12 years behind bars for compelling two women to engage in prostitution through the use of threats, Fox 5 reported.
One of the witnesses cited in the police report said the suspect “popped out of the corner”. Neal stabbed Todd in the head, then the stomach, and punctured a lung.
The victim “was able to grab [the suspect’s] arms” and the witness with him tackled the suspect, “leading to a struggle between the parties”. The victim and the witness ran as the suspect fled, the report added.
Neal told police that “a voice was telling him that someone was going to get him for all the things he [has] done. So [Neal] was waiting right there to get the someone,” the Washington Post reported.
According to the court filing, Todd will need multiple surgeries. The puncture wound to the left side of his head will “likely cause an internal brain bleed.”
“We are relieved to hear the suspect has been arrested,” Paul said in his statement. “At this time, we would ask for privacy so everyone can focus on healing and recovery.”
Neal appeared in court on Monday and is being held without bond. The public defender of the suspect did not immediately respond to the request for comment.
