ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — Orange County deputies say they’ve tracked down the suspect in a stabbing that happened at a local park over the weekend.
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The investigation started Saturday evening when staff at Shadow Bay Park on Turkey Lake Road say the victim ran up to them, covered in blood, saying he had been stabbed.
Responding deputies spoke to the victim, who said he had been fishing on a pier at the park shortly before 8 p.m.
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When he started to head back towards his car, the victim said he noticed another man who had been there following him closely.
According to the sheriff’s office, the victim said he turned around and asked the other man if the park closed at 8 p.m. When the victim said he turned again to continue to his car, he felt a punch in his back that was later determined to be a stab in the back.
Deputies say the victim fell to the ground and attempted to fight off his attacker, but the suspect continued trying to stab him.
The victim was eventually able to fight back, causing the suspect’s knife to fall to the ground, at which point deputies say the suspect was able to run away for help.
According to the sheriff’s office, the victim said there had been no prior contact and no argument with the suspect before the attack.
The victim described the suspect as a younger white man with curly hair, armed with a black knife similar to a Swiss knife.
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Park staff also reported making contact with the suspect before the stabbing as they were making their rounds closing the park. Deputies say the staffers recalled warning both the victim and the suspect that the park would be closing soon shortly before the victim ran up to them covered in blood.
The next day, deputies say they received a call from a man who saw a report about the stabbing on the news, who said he believed the attacker, in that case, was the same person who tried to stab him earlier that same day.
In the earlier case, the victim said he’d met up with the suspect at approximately noon Saturday and had a normal conversation, after which the suspect asked him to fight. When the victim refused, he said the suspect pulled out a black knife and chased him with it.
That victim said he was able to run back to his house, and the suspect fled the area in a black BMW.
Deputies identified the suspect in that case as 20-year-old Michael Zaccardo and issued a warrant charging him with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.
The victim in the park attack was then able to identify Zaccardo from a photograph as the person who stabbed him.
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The staffers at the park also identified Zaccardo as the other man who was at the park Saturday evening.
Investigators secured another warrant charging Zaccardo with attempted second-degree murder with a deadly weapon.
On Tuesday, deputies with the Kings County Sheriff’s Office arrested Zaccardo in Seattle. He’s being held at the King County jail until he can be extradited back to Orange County.
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