Rideshare driver stabbed, carjacked in Everett, WA IHOP parking lot
Rideshare driver stabbed, carjacked in Everett
A day of work nearly turned deadly for a rideshare driver after he was attacked in an IHOP parking lot Friday night.
EVERETT, Wash. - A day of work nearly turned deadly for a rideshare driver after he was attacked in an IHOP parking lot Friday night.
Family members say he stopped at the restaurant in Everett for dinner and had just signed back on for work when he was stabbed and carjacked.
What they're saying:
Family members say dad, Yuriy Vakulchik, likes to stop at the IHOP near Paine Field in Everett while waiting to pick up Lyft and Uber passengers from the airport. On Friday, May 23, he did just that.
"He wanted pancakes," said Yuriy's son. "There were witnesses at IHOP, and they were the ones to call 911."
His son didn't want his name used in the story, but told FOX 13 his family members knew Yuriy's job had its dangers, but that Friday night, he encountered a threat nobody expected.
"I was not expecting it to be a random attack," said his son.
A stranger surprised Yuriy in the IHOP parking lot, putting a knife to his throat, giving him no time to react.
"He came up from behind him and wrapped his arms around him and said, 'You’re dead. You're dead. You're dead', and then slit his throat," said his son. Yuryi is pictured below.
His son says the man cut Yuriy's neck as he tried to fight back.
"My dad turned around and started swinging at him. Then, the guy started stabbing at his face and his head," said his son.
His son says witnesses in IHOP called 911 and Everett Police pulled up as the man was fleeing in Yuriy's SUV. He says the man escaped by driving over the lip of the parking lot, through the bushes, dropping around six feet in the vehicle to the street below.
"The suspect jumped into my dad’s running vehicle and just went over the barricade down the bushes on to Everett Mall Way and ran down south," he said.
You can still see the track marks where the suspect was accused of driving the stolen SUV through the landscaping to get away.
However, it didn't take Everett Police long to find him and make an arrest.
Family members say police caught him a few miles away near the Costco off of 99 in Lynnwood and arrested him for the stabbing.
Yuriy's son says his dad was hospitalized with at least eight painful stab wounds.
"It was all the way up and around the chest and up his head," he said.
Yuriy may also need surgery to save his eyesight. His doctors are evaluating whether that will be necessary. In the meantime, Yuriy's family created an online fundraiser to help him recover.
"Every single penny helps, not just money, prayers, support in any way," said his son. "It's all amazing."
A spokesperson for Everett police says the suspect has since been booked into the Snohomish County jail for robbery and assault.
The Source: Information in this story came from Everett Police and original FOX 13 Seattle interviews and reporting.
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