Hometown Hero’s Attacker Arraigned in Court
Overview
James Tran’s most recent booking photo and an earlier one police released while he was wanted.
SACRAMENTO—The man accused of attempted murder after stabbing hometown hero Spencer Stone four times last month made his first appearance in Sacramento County Court on Friday, November 6.
James Tran, 28, of Sacramento, was arraigned at a short hearing before Sacramento Superior Court Judge Ben Davidian. He faces a single count of attempted murder with an allegation of using a dangerous weapon—a knife.
Tran was arrested on Tuesday, November 3 during a traffic stop in the area of Highway 99 and Bond Road in Elk Grove after a month-long manhunt by police. He is not eligible for bail due to the seriousness of his alleged crime.
Tran allegedly stabbed Stone during a physical altercation with Stone and a group of men on October 8 at 21st and K streets in midtown Sacramento. Police say the fight started when a person in Tran’s group videotaped a woman in Stone’s party.
Video surveillance from a nearby business showed two men driving away in a late-model Toyota Camry.
Stone nearly died after sustaining four stab wounds to his upper body that punctured his heart, liver and lung. He had open-heart surgery and spent a week at UC Davis Medical Center.
Tran pleaded no contest in 2008 to possession of a controlled substance for sale. Prosecutors asked the court to dismiss six other felony drug and weapons charges against him, including possession of a concealed weapon and possession of a loaded firearm. He was sentenced to a year on work furlough and five years’ probation.
This attack on Stone came just two months after he and friends Anthony Sadler and Alek Skarlatos thwarted a terrorist attack aboard a French passenger train. Stone was stabbed and seriously wounded while subduing the gunman.
The three childhood friends received France’s highest award, the Legion of Honor, for bravery in the face of the attack. They also met President Obama at the White House in September,
Tran did not enter a plea and is scheduled to return to court December 1.
