Woman slashed by knife-wielding stranger outside Tri-Cities restaurant

A customer at a Pasco restaurant was stabbed by a stranger after being accused of “talking s---” about him.

The 40-year-old woman was attacked Tuesday night in the parking lot of Applebee’s after eating dinner with her friend.

She reportedly got into a fight with Antonio Ayala Ponce when he threw something at her car, and ended up with deep gashes on the side of her stomach and across her throat and neck.

Ponce, 33, is charged in Franklin County Superior Court with two counts each of first- and second-degree assault, and one count of fourth-degree assault, a gross misdemeanor.

The four felonies charges all include allegations that Ponce was armed with a knife during the incident.

Ponce appeared in court Wednesday and was ordered held on $250,000 bail — above the prosecution’s recommendation of $100,000.

Ponce had asked Judge Dave Petersen to release him on his personal recognizance. He also refused to sign an order telling him to have no contact with the woman for one year while his case is pending.

The case is back before a judge on Nov. 2 for Ponce to enter a plea to the charges.

Prosecutors are expected to present an order at that hearing asking that Ponce’s case be put on hold while he gets a mental health evaluation through Eastern State Hospital.

Multiple witnesses

Court documents show that Pasco police were dispatched to the 5305 Road 68 restaurant at 11 p.m. Tuesday.

Officer Charles Acock met with the victim, who said her alleged attacker had walked away across the street.

The woman said the stranger had been sitting across the restaurant when he got up and approached her table randomly, accusing her of talking about him. She told him she was not, documents said.

Then, when she left the restaurant with her friend, the woman noticed that Ponce was following them out.

He proceeded to yell at them and threw something at the woman’s car, so she got out of her car to talk with Ponce, court documents said.

The woman reported that Ponce punched her so she punched him back. But then he swung while holding something black, and the woman realized she had been cut.

Her shirt also was cut up in the attack, documents said.

Ponce eventually was found down the street a few blocks.

Police had the victim identify Ponce as her alleged attacker before taking him to jail and getting medical treatment for the woman.

Documents said there were several witnesses inside the restaurant and in the parking lot who saw what happened.

This story was originally published October 28, 2021 at 3:57 PM.