Thomas Byron Stemen arrested stabbing Katie Peters with syringe full of semen at local Maryland grocery store. Other victims sought.
A man has been arrested after stabbing a woman with a syringe filled with semen at a Maryland store earlier this week.
Thomas Byron Stemen, 51, was arrested by Anne Arundel Police on Tuesday after assaulting a woman while she was grocery shopping on Feb. 18, cops said in a press release.
The incident is alleged to have occurred at the Christoper’s Fine Foods in the 5500 block of Shady Side Road in Churchton last Tuesday.
Surveillance video shows Stemen pretending to bump into the woman as she was returning a shopping cart, jabbing her with an object he pulled from his pocket.
The victim —Katie Peters — initially thought she was burned by a cigarette butt, WBAL-TV reported.
‘It felt like a bee sting didn’t it?’ Stemen allegedly told Peters after the attack.
On her way home, Peters then began to feel discomfort and found a puncture wound on her body.
‘I started driving home (and) it started hurting really bad,’ she said. ‘I called my son and said, ‘Something’s not right, I hope nothing happens. I hope I make it home, I love you.”
Cops said they received an anonymous tip on Tuesday which named the 51-year-old as the attacker.
Investigators then found the syringe in the driver’s side door of his car.
Of disconcert, an investigation of the man’s home led to authorities finding other syringes also filled with semen.
Did suspect target other females – and if so, why?
Stemen was arrested and charged with first- and second-degree assault and reckless endangerment. A judge ordered the man be held without bail.
Peters told the station on Wednesday that she felt safer with Stemen behind bars.
Cops said that additional testing and investigations are underway — believing that there may be additional victims.
It remained unclear whether Peters and Stemen knew each other and whether the man had specifically sought to target females.
‘This investigation is extremely active additional charges may be applicable,’ cops posted on Twitter.
The prosecutor said Peters lived down the street from Stemen and that Stemen had come into contact with two other people but didn’t successfully inject them.
Jail records show Stemen housed at the Jennifer Road Detention Center.
Anyone with any information is asked to call Southern District at 410-222-1960 or the TipLine 410-222-4700.
