Los Angeles man arrested in Metro subway stabbing

A Los Angeles man was arrested Saturday night in connection with a rush-hour stabbing on a Metro train last week, the Los Angeles Police Department said.

Police said Alex Garcia, 27, boarded a Red Line train at the Hollywood/Western station on Thursday about 5 p.m. and got into an argument with a man seated in the subway car. The argument turned violent, and Garcia slashed the passenger once in the abdomen, police said.

Garcia stayed on the train while the passenger fled the car and flagged down a bystander for help, police said. The passenger is hospitalized with a severe abdominal injury and is in stable condition.

Police said they found Garcia 48 hours later in Hollywood and arrested him.

Garcia is being held in lieu of $1 million bail and is subject to a felony probation hold, police said.

Los Angeles County jail records show that a man with the same name and date of birth as Garcia was arrested Monday afternoon and released Tuesday, two days before the stabbing.

A second stabbing on the Metro system on Thursday evening appears to be an unrelated incident, officials said.

In that case, a man standing on a Red Line platform at the Westlake/MacArthur Park station was stabbed shortly before 8 p.m., and was taken to a hospital with injuries to his neck and torso, the Los Angeles Fire Department said.