Police have identified the suspect arrested Monday for stabbing two people outside a Phoenix mental-health facility.
Sgt. Jonathan Howard said Tuesday 25-year-old Daniel Kaufman has been booked for several counts of aggravated assault, assault and probation violation.
The victims are continuing to recover after the attack outside the Lifewell Behavioral Wellness facility near 7th Avenue and Osborn Road Monday afternoon.
Officers said Kaufman had received treatment at the outpatient facility Monday morning.
Police say he returned later and allegedly attacked two bystanders as they stood outside for an unknown reason.
They say a worker at the wellness center fought off the suspect and prevented a much worse situation.
Patients and neighbors say the attack made them worry about security at the outpatient clinic.
ABC15 called Lifewell Behavioral Wellness officials seeking information. When no one responded, ABC15 crews went to the company’s administrative offices in central Phoenix. An unidentified employee offered to take a business card into the office, but he returned empty-handed.
“I said I would give that information to the CEO and CFO, and then from that point on, it will be their determination. No one is available right now,” he told reporter Melissa Blasius.
ABC15 is still waiting for Lifewell to comment.
A neighboring business owner hopes the company takes action. Hettie Rich, who owns a beauty business, says she regularly finds drug paraphernalia in the alley she shares with the clinic. She says people pace outside seemingly yelling at no one, and they sleep in the parking lots.
Rich says she has asked clinic staff to help with trespassing and loitering clients, but she’s never seen a security guard or anyone else willing to assist.
I believe in what they do and the services they offer, but they need better security for the neighborhood around them,” Rich said. “They also need better security for their own employees. That concerns me that there are people in that building who have no barrier between them and these clients who can be volatile.”
There was a security guard inside the clinic the day following the stabbing.
