REDWOOD CITY — A 53-year-old unhoused man has been charged in connection with the vicious stabbing of a hospital employee earlier this week in Burlingame, prosecutors said.
Joseph Alvillar Jr. is facing charges of attempted murder, assault with a deadly weapon and battery with serious bodily injury, according to the San Mateo County District Attorney’s Office. Alvillar entered a not guilty plea at a court appearance Thursday.
Alvillar walked into the emergency department at Mills-Peninsula Medical Center around 7 p.m. Wednesday and sat down. Prosecutors said witnesses noticed he was behaving strangely and talking to himself, saying he was looking for a man dressed in white.
A 53-year-old hospital employee, who had just put on a white surgical gown, spotted Alvillar and asked him if he needed help. That’s when Alvillar allegedly pulled out a pocketknife and stabbed the hospital employee six times in the back, twice in the chest and once under the chin, according to the district attorney’s office.
The hospital employee received treatment for his injuries and was listed in stable condition.
Alvillar, meanwhile, was taken into custody at the hospital.
The defendant has a history of mental illness but no criminal record, prosecutors said.
Alvillar is being held without bail at the Maple Street Correctional Center and will return to court Feb. 23 for a preliminary hearing, according to the district attorney’s office.