Indiana baseball coach recalls moment teen girl was stabbed during game prompting arrest of illegal immigrant
After a teen girl was allegedly stabbed by an illegal immigrant while attending her brother's baseball game in Lowell, Indiana, one of the coaches spoke out about the harrowing attack, recalling the moment the assault took place.
Matt Ramian, who was coaching the young girl's brother's baseball team at the time, joined "Fox & Friends" to discuss what he saw when she was stabbed with a butcher-style knife over the weekend.
"I was just coaching a baseball game, like I pretty much do all the time," Ramian told Ainsley Earhardt on Wednesday.
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"I'm on third base. I looked, talked to my on-deck batter, and out of the corner of my eye, I see this dude just come out of behind my dugout, and all he did was just jump on this girl, and then he started to… push her down under the bleachers, and then he pulls out at least a 16 to 20-inch knife."
"It wasn't even a regular-sized pocket knife, and just started swinging it and got her a few times, and blood went all over the bleachers and on the people sitting in front of them," he continued. "Then he just takes off running down the sidelines and started waving the knife at a couple other people as he was running."
Ramian said between 10 and 15 fathers and spectators took off after the suspect through the woods, prompting a massive manhunt for the alleged attacker.
Dimas Gabriel Yanez, 26, was eventually arrested after an hours-long manhunt. Officials said he was an illegal immigrant from Honduras who was previously deported back in 2018.
ABC7 Chicago reported he was charged with attempted murder, aggravated battery posing substantial risk of death, battery resulting in serious bodily injury to a person under 14, battery by means of a deadly weapon and intimidation.
The sheriff’s office said Yanez "may have been engaged in criminal activity across the United States since returning to the country illegally."
Yanez, who allegedly has ties to MS-13, has a criminal history ranging from battery, trespassing, intoxication and attempted burglary in New York, Illinois, Georgia and Ohio, ABC7 Chicago also reported.
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Ramian said the young girl who was stabbed in the hand is doing well and has since been released from the hospital after being treated for her injuries.
"Me witnessing it as an adult, it kind of shocks me," Ramian said. "It puts you in a different perspective… You change your views on a lot of things. The girl, she's doing very well. I mean, she ended up getting out of the hospital. She's… being a trooper about it. She actually went to school. Her mom told her she didn't have to go to school if she didn't want to, but she wanted to be strong."
"All the boys were kind of shocked," he continued. "They're all strong kids… They're only 12 years old, but at the same time… something like that happens… It's something that adults shouldn't see, but… for these kids to see that [it] just makes it a little bit harder and makes you a little bit more emotional for them."
Ramian said the incident has shocked the entire community and surrounding towns as they continue to grapple with the aftermath of the assault.
"Lowell is one of those little close-knit towns," Ramian said. "They have a big Labor Day weekend… music festival. They have fireworks shows, parades every day, something different, and… it's one of those towns where everybody knows everybody."
"So… for something like this to happen was shocking," he continued. "Just not for Lowell, but for all the communities around them."
Earhardt said the family has set up a GoFundMe page to help the victim's family with medical bills.
Fox News' Stephen Sorace contributed to this report.