Santa Rosa Man Sentenced to Eight Years Prison for Double Stabbing

On Thursday morning, the Honorable Christopher Honigsberg sentenced Santa Rosa Defendant Jose Lopez-Mendoza to serve an aggregate term of 8 years in state prison for his violent stabbing of two bouncers last year. This sentence stemmed from Lopez-Mendoza’s plea to two counts of assault with a deadly weapon causing great bodily injury in July.

The attack happened back on August 25, 2018. That evening the victims Tony Garcia-Abarca and Matthew Bazile were working as bouncers at La Perla restaurant in Santa Rosa. As the night progressed staff noticed Lopez-Mendoza’s highly intoxicated behavior and became concerned that he was disrupting other patrons as they danced to live music. Eventually Bazile escorted Lopez-Mendoza outside due to repeated disruptions of other patrons and barred him from returning.

Lopez-Mendoza, upset at being kicked out, tried to negotiate his way back into the restaurant. When that failed, he attempted to force his way past Garcia-Abarca but was rebuffed. Lopez-Mendoza then stood outside while Garcia-Abarca began speaking to other customers. With the victim’s back turned, Lopez-Mendoza produced a knife and stabbed Garcia-Abarca in the neck, back, arm, and hand. Seeing the commotion, Bazile rushed over to help and was stabbed in the hand as well. Both victim’s suffered extensive injuries and were transported to the hospital for treatment. Lopez-Mendoza, who fled on foot, was arrested a few blocks away by Santa Rosa Police.

On Thursday after listening to multiple victim impact statements, the court highlighted to Lopez-Mendoza the profound effect these assaults had on the victims. The court then imposed the sentence agreed upon by the parties of six years in state prison for the attack on Garcia-Abarca with an additional two years to run consecutive for the attack on Bazile.

The case was prosecuted by Deputy District Attorney Brian Morimune who was assisted by Victim Witness Advocate Rocio Torres-Murphy. Sgt. Hector Deleon of the Santa Rosa Police Department headed the investigation.