KANAWHA COUNTY, WV. (THECOUNT) — Richard Thornton, 31, of Elkview, West Virginia, the suspect arrested in a brutal stabbing and robbery of a Crossings Mall McDonald’s customer Tuesday evening, was arrested in 2019 for the attempted stabbing of two paramedics.
On Tuesday, Thornton, a McDonald’s employee, allegedly followed a 56-year-old man into the bathroom area of the eatery before stabbing the man in the face and neck and robbing him of his wallet.
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Police later arrested Thornton who was still in possession of the victim’s wallet and a bloody fixed-blade knife.
The victim was taken to CAMC General with “serious facial injuries and stab wounds to the neck,” according to a news release from the sheriff’s office.
In 2019, Thornton, then 27, was charged with attempted murder in Kanawha County after he allegedly tried to stab two paramedics who were transporting him to the hospital. Thornton admitted to being high on methamphetamine and bath salts during that attack.
Via WTAP 2019:
Medics were requested to come to the scene, and Thornton was placed in an ambulance to be taken to the hospital.
On the way, Thornton allegedly unfastened the buckles on the ambulance’s cot, and while a medics was trying to treat him, he pulled knife from his pocket and allegedly tried to stab the medic.
After the driver slammed on the brakes and stopped, Thornton allegedly got out of the ambulance through a side door and began to chase the medics with the knife. The medics got away and Thornton was later arrested at a nearby gas station with a pocket knife in his possession.
In the 2019 attack, Thornton was charged with two counts of attempted murder.
In the latest attack, Thornton was charged with robbery with a deadly weapon and malicious wounding.
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Geo quick facts: Kanawha County is a county in the U.S. state of West Virginia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 180,745, making it West Virginia’s most populous county. The county seat is Charleston, which is also the state capital. Kanawha County is part of the Charleston, WV Metropolitan Statistical Area – Wikipedia.