Costa Mesa Police Department

Advisory: Man arrested for stabbing acquaintance after a verbal argument

For immediate release: May 25, 2018

Case #: DR #18-6919

Costa Mesa, Calif. — The Costa Mesa Police Department arrested a man yesterday for stabbing an acquaintance after a verbal argument.

On May 21, 2018, around 6:30 p.m., officers responded to a phone call regarding a stabbing. The 30-year-old male victim, a Costa Mesa resident, was driving to a nearby hospital with injuries sustained from a stabbing that had just occurred in the 2000 block of National Avenue, Costa Mesa.

Officers met the victim at Hoag Hospital and learned the suspect was known to the victim.

At the residence on National Avenue, the victim and the suspect, Jonathan Comfort Whitworth, 33, Santa Ana, had a verbal argument and Whitworth had become upset after the victim asked him to leave. Whitworth attacked the victim and fled the scene.

The victim was transported to a trauma center, to be treated for a significant facial laceration on the left side of his face and two stab wounds on his back area. The victim was medically treated and later released in stable condition.

During the investigation, officers located a crime scene in a bedroom at the residence on National Avenue.

Yesterday, May, 24, 2018, detectives located Whitworth’s vehicle at the 200 block of Lido Street in Santa Ana. Detectives conducted surveillance of the vehicle and around 12:00 p.m., detectives saw the suspect leave the location. Detectives followed the vehicle, and with the assistance of the Santa Ana Police Department, executed a stop of the suspect vehicle. Whitworth, was taken into custody, and arrested for assault with a deadly weapon and aggravated mayhem. He was transported to the Orange County Jail with bail currently set at $1 million.