8-Year-Old Stabbed at New York Restaurant

Oct. 9, 2010— -- A 23-year-old man allegedly walked up to an 8-year-old boy he'd never seen before playing a video game at a Long Island, N.Y., restaurant and stabbed him five times in the back with a hunting knife, police said.

The boy's father and another man who saw the attack grabbed the suspect before he was able to leave the Westbury, N.Y., Dave and Buster's restaurant, and police said when they arrived the man's hands were covered with blood.

Evan Sachs, of Merrick, N.Y., was arrested and charged with attempted murder in the attack, which occurred Friday at around 8:30 p.m., Nassau County police said.

According to police, Sachs was carrying a hunting knife when he allegedly crept up behind the child and repeatedly plunged the 3.5-inch blade into his back.

The boy managed to get to his mother, who was nearly 20 feet away from where he had been playing the video game, and collapsed near at her feet. He suffered from a collapsed lung but is listed in stable condition at Winthorp Hospital on Long Island, officials said.

After a witness pointed out Sachs to the boy's father, the two were able to catch the suspect as he walked toward a restroom and they held him until the police arrived, cops said.

"Both the father and the witness apprehended this person," said Nassau County Police Department Lt. Kevin Smith.

Investigators are trying to determine a possible motive for the attack, but Smith said today that so far they have been able to find any connection between the man and his alleged victim.

"There was no connection whatsoever to this boy," he said. "There was no contact between him and the boy, either prior or on this night. They don't live anywhere significantly close to each other."

"It remains unclear why this person picked out this small boy who he has no connection to," Smith added.

He said it was still unknown whether the suspect was drunk or otherwise intoxicated.

Sachs was scheduled to be arraigned today on charges including attempted murder.