Nearly eight years after allegedly stabbing someone to death at a vocational training facility in San Carlos, Vitin Ajani Cruz was finally found competent to stand trail and entered pleas of not guilty and not guilty by reason of insanity in superior court on Tuesday.
The case was continued to Aug. 7 to allow for doctors' reports. Cruz is accused of the Oct. 27, 2004 fatal stabbing of Alfonso Ruiz, a fellow client at the vocational center.
Cruz has spent most of the past eight years at the Napa State Hospital. He is currently at Crestwood Psychiatric Facility with no bail status.
The 38-year-old suspect, from Daly City, has a history of serious psychiatric problems and has been found not competent to stand trial on several occasions.
Cruz apparently stabbed Ruiz at Vocational Rehabilitation Services on Quarry Road , thinking he was in danger of being stabbed himself. He stabbed Ruiz several times and fled the scene but was apprehended soon after. Ruiz died the next day.
In another case involving San Carlos, 29-year-old Javier Medina Posadas, accused of causing serious bodily harm while trying to evade a peace officer, reckless driving, the unlawful taking of a vehicle and driving without a license, had his case continued to Sept. 26 for the purpose of imposition of sentence.
In May of 2011, Posadas allegedly took a neighbor's car without permission and was discovered driving the wrong way on Woodside Road. The chase continued on El Camino Real into San Carlos, where he drove over the sidewalk and slammed into a deputy's car, causing a knee injury.
The defendant pleaded nolo contendere to felony assault on a law enforcement officer and to felony evading. He is in custody on $100,000 bail.
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