Woman arrested for allegedly stabbing a mother in front of kids in Azusa

An Arizona woman was in custody Wednesday for allegedly stabbing a mother who was playing with her children near an Azusa park, police said.

The attack occurred about 8 p.m. Tuesday near Edwards Park, in the 600 block of North Azusa Avenue, according to the Azusa Police Department.

Brianna Hallquist, 23, described by authorities as a transient from Phoenix, was booked on suspicion of attempted murder, assault with a deadly weapon and criminal threats, according to police, with bail set at $1 million.

Officers sent to the park on a report of an assault with a deadly weapon found the victim with a stab wound to her upper body.

The woman, whose name was not released, “told officers that she was … playing (in the park) with her two minor age children” when “a female adult approached the children and began looking at them as they played,” police said in a statement posted on Facebook.

“The victim became nervous and immediately left the park with her children and began to walk southbound on Azusa Avenue. The female caught up to the victim and her children and demanded that the victim `give me my daughter back.”‘

According to police, the suspect threatened to harm the victim if she did not return “her daughter,” and then stabbed the mother in the upper body. Bystanders came to the injured woman’s aid and called police, and the suspect ran off but was quickly arrested in the area, police said.

The victim was taken to a hospital for treatment of injuries described as non-life-threatening. The children, who were unharmed, were released at the scene to their father, police said.

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