HARTFORD — Edgar Maldonado was arrested in New York Wednesday for allegedly stabbing his girlfriend 30 times in Hartford and kidnapping her son. It took a handful of agencies across three states and a key cooperating witness to get him in handcuffs.
“New York Police Department notified the Hartford Police Department that they located the suspect at a McDonalds at Midtown North. This information was due to the fact that the Hartford Police Department had a cooperating witness,” said Hartford Police Lt. Paul Cicero Wednesday during a news conference at police headquarters regarding the arrest.
Twenty four hours earlier in Worcester Massachusetts, the victim’s son was found wandering the streets alone and in the dark. Worcester Police also found the car with the knife inside — but no Maldonado.
It all started 3 hours before that at about 2:30AM on Natick Street in New Years Day in Hartford.
Cathy Cooper’s dog woke her up as the bloody victim was banging on her door. “The new year wasn’t even two hours old and this incident occurred,” said Cooper. She called 911. Possibly saving the victim’s life. “What little bit I could do I did and I’m grateful and thankful that their family thought enough to come by and thank me. I had no expectation of that. I didn’t do it for that. I did it because somebody needed help.”
Police say the victim’s boyfriend, Edgar Maldonado, 23, stabbed her 30 times in a car and in front of her 6 year old son. “That’s crazy for a mother to get stabbed 30 times,” remarked Steven Chalastra of Hartford.
Maldonado allegedly drove the boy to Worcester and may have used public transit to slip away to New York. “Everybody that we can. Obviously we even reach into the social media apps and Uber and Lyft and taxi companies. So a lot of moving parts,” explained Lt. Cicero.
The child is in DCF custody in Massachusetts. The victim remains in critical but stable condition. Maldonado is still in New York being held for half a million dollars bond on a fugitive from justice warrant — awaiting extradition back to Hartford. Maldonado is facing a slew of charges including attempted murder, assault and kidnapping. It’s not the first time he’s being arrested for domestic violence.