A man is behind bars after police say he stabbed a fast-food restaurant employee in the neck during an attempted robbery Tuesday in northwest Albuquerque.
Tracy Parks, 31, was booked into the Metropolitan Detention Center Tuesday afternoon. He is charged with aggravated battery with a deadly weapon resulting in great bodily harm and aggravated assault with a deadly weapon in the stabbing of Whataburger employee Jed Jeffries.
According to a criminal complaint filed in Metropolitan Court, police responded to an armed robbery around 8 a.m. at the Whataburger, near Menaul and Broadway NW, where Parks had locked himself in the restaurant bathroom.
Jeffries told police he was carrying $2,000 in deposit money to his car in a plastic bag when he saw Parks, who he recognized as a frequent visitor of the restaurant.
Police say Parks told Jeffries, “Hey come here,” before stabbing Jeffries in the neck. The two men fell to the ground and began to wrestle, as Jeffries held Parks’ hands to prevent him from stealing the money and stabbing him again.
According to the complaint Parks took Jeffries’ box cutter from his pocket during the struggle before another employee came out to help Jeffries.
Police say Parks then chased the two employees around with both knives before he ran inside the restaurant and lunged at another employee.
According to the complaint Parks locked himself in the bathroom, where officers arrested him after an hourslong SWAT standoff.
