News Five saves stabbing victim
It was almost time for lunch and our news reporter Jacqueline Woods, cameraman George Tillett and driver Stephen Ferguson were out on assignment. But when they drove past the bus stop near the Pallotti junction they saw a man throw a woman to the ground and begin stabbing her. Our news crew stepped in, but despite repeated calls for assistance, none of the bystanders came to the woman’s aid. The man, later identified as 61 year old Francisco Azueta of Sand Hill then vented his rage at our driver and cameraman.
Jacqueline Woods, Reporter
“When we were passing by Stephen and George shouted, “look, the man is looking to beat up this lady”. And the next thing you know he just pushed down the woman on the ground pulled out this screwdriver and was just stabbing her repeatedly. Stephen hurriedly stopped the vehicle and ran out to assist the woman. And I do believe Hyacinth, if we did not do that we would probably have a dead woman on our hands.
This is another thing I could not understand Hyacinth, is that I mean that many men were just standing and looking and not giving any kind of assistance and not giving any kind of help. Even after when the man just got up, I just started yelling somebody, “help, help, help”.
George Tillett, Cameraman/Editor
“The first thing that came to my mind was to help her because she was in trouble. And, I had the camera on my shoulder but that was secondary to me at that time. I just wanted to help her. Me and Stephen shouted at the guy and yelled, “stop, stop” and “leave the lady alone”. And eventually he stopped stabbing her and got up and began walking away. I kept following him and talked to him because he seemed like he wanted to run away. And me and Stephen just kept following him. And he threatened us with his screwdriver. He stabbed first at Stephen, then at me but we kept our ground and stepped back.”
News Five’s cameraman George Tillett picked up the victim twenty-one year old Keisha Westby and News Five took her to the Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital. She was treated for wounds to her neck and forehead and released. While Westby was on her way to the hospital, off duty police officer Alfonso Bol arrived on the scene and attempted to take Azueta in, but the man, still in a frenzy, stabbed Bol in the chest. He has been treated for his injury. Azueta has alleged that Westby stole eight thousand dollars from him, and that is why he went after her. Keisha Westby, on the other hand, told police she and Azueta used to live together but she left him. She says when he saw her today and she refused to speak to him, he attacked her with the screwdriver. But as is all too common in domestic abuse cases, despite her injuries and the threat to her life today, Westby has refused to press charges against Azueta. He will still face charges of wounding police officer Alfonso Bol.
