A Moxee man has pleaded not guilty in what police describe as an unprovoked knife attack on the Yakima Greenway that left a man injured.
Yakima County prosecutors arraigned Jonathan Xavier Hernández, 27, on Tuesday on a second-degree assault charge in connection with the July 18 attack near Sarg Hubbard Park.
At the hearing, Yakima County Superior Court Judge Shane Silverthorn rejected defense attorney Samuel Swanberg’s request to reduce Hernández’s $10,000 bail. Swanberg unsuccessfully argued that Hernández has no prior criminal history and that a no-contact order naming the victim should be sufficient to protect the public.
Silverthorn disagreed.
“Stabbing someone you don’t know in the park is quite concerning and shows a substantial likelihood of future violence which overcomes the presumption of release,” Silverthorn said.
Hernández is currently being held in the Yakima County jail.
Yakima police went to the parking lot of the My Place Motel, 21 S. 18th St., around 11:33 p.m. July 18 for a man who said he had been stabbed. The man had cuts to his neck and arm and was taken to MultiCare Yakima Memorial Hospital for treatment, according to a probable cause affidavit.
He told police he was stabbed on the Greenway near Sarg Hubbard Park, and he didn’t know why Hernández, whom he did not know, stabbed him, the affidavit said.
A Yakima police dog followed a track from the crime scene to a parking lot near Walmart where Hernández, who matched the description of the attacker, was found and arrested, the affidavit said.
The victim also picked Hernández out of a photo lineup prepared by police, the affidavit said.