Man stabbed in morning attack

By Peggy Kelly Santa Paula TimesSanta Paula Police Department officers found that a report Friday of a pedestrian hit by a car was actually a stabbing that occurred in broad daylight near a busy thoroughfare, and a SPPD spokesman said the suspect was caught with the help of concerned witnesses who followed the subject. The May 9 report of a vehicle accident involving a pedestrian at Harvard Boulevard and Palm Avenue came in at about 8:50 a.m., according to Sergeant Ish Cordero.“Upon arrival of officers, it was learned that a male subject who was found lying on the street being assisted by citizens was the victim of a stabbing.” The victim, 55-year-old Arturo Gonzalez of Santa Paula, “was suffering from multiple stab wounds to his upper chest, back and neck.” Santa Paula Fire EMTs and ambulance paramedics treated Gonzalez at the scene before he was transported to Ventura County Medical Center.Cordero said that several witnesses “who saw the attack followed the suspect to a mobile home park in the 400 block of Craig Drive and gave police a description of the suspect.” Officers searched the area, and with the assistance of the witnesses the suspect was identified as Christopher Joseph Irlmeier, 29 years, out of Goleta, “who had just recently moved to Santa Paula.”During the investigation, information was obtained that the suspect had left the mobile home park and was last seen in the area of Vons market. “Surveillance was set up, and upon the suspect exiting Vons he was taken into custody without incident,” said Cordero.Irlmeier was transported to SPPD, where he was booked for attempted homicide. “Witnesses who assisted SPPD officers positively identified the suspect as the attacker” and, Cordero noted, “At this time there is no motive for the attack, there is no connection between the suspect and the victim, they are unknown to each other.”