A Southern California man is being charged with attempted murder after allegedly trying to kill his estranged wife with two large butcher knives at their son’s flag football game.
The Orange County District Attorney’s Office said in a statement Tuesday that 43-year-old Russell Matthew Husges of Anaheim is accused of charging across the field at the 40-year-old woman who was watching their 9-year-old son play Friday.
Spectators, including an off-duty Garden Grove police officer and the victim’s 9-year-old son, intervened in the attack, according to the DA’s office.
KABC reports that the group of spectators were able to force the knives away from Husges before the off-duty officer handcuffed him.
A few weeks prior to the attack, officials say the wife had been granted a family court order against the husband.
As a result of the incident, Husges has been charged with one felony count of attempted murder, one count of felony assault with a deadly weapon other than a firearm, one misdemeanor count of disobeying a domestic relations court order, and one misdemeanor count of child abuse and endangerment.
Husges faces a maximum sentence of life in prison and is currently being held at the Orange County Jail, the DA’s office says.
“No one should be subjected to violence for making the decision to leave a relationship and no child should have to intervene to stop one parent from attacking another,” said Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer. “The act itself is horrific, but to attempt to carry out this kind of violence in front of innocent children and their parents is the stuff of nightmares.”