Rochester MN (KROC AM News) - A Rochester man had to undergo surgery Tuesday night after being stabbed by a stranger who had asked for a ride a few minutes earlier - an attack that happened in front of the victim’s 13-year-old daughter.

Police Captain John Sherwin says the man got into the 51-year-old victim’s car at the intersection of 37th St and 18th Ave NW around 6 p.m, saying his vehicle had broken down.

Sherwin says they drove several blocks and stopped in the 3000 block of Venice Lane NW and that’s when the man demanded the victim’s car and wallet. When the victim refused, the man attacked him with a boxcutter, cutting him on the head and arms. During the attack, the victim’s daughter ran to a nearby home to call police.  

Sherwin says the attacker fled on foot and went to a house a few blocks away in the 2600 block of Tuxedo Lane. He was allowed into a man’s home after asking him to call a cab. A few minutes later, the homeowner’s daughter arrived, became suspicious and called police.

The suspect was still in the area when officers arrived and arrested 31-year-old Nathaniel Wedig. Sherwin says it was later learned he had tried to steal a car earlier but was chased off by its owner.

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