A man who randomly stabbed a person inside a municipal building and then punched a police officer was sentenced Friday to 10 years in state prison.
Reginald Patillo, 48, of Lakewood, had pleaded guilty last November to aggravated assault charges stemming from the February 2019 incidents in Lakewood's town hall.
Patillo initially stabbed another person in an unprovoked attack that occurred as the victim got into an elevator on the second floor, authorities said. A panic alarm was soon triggered by someone in the building, and officers investigating that found Patillo sitting in a hallway chair.
The officers — who at the time did not know a stabbing had occurred — had just started to speak with Patillo when he suddenly stood up and punched an officer in the eye. As the officers struggled with Patillo, a folding knife fell out of his waistband, and they soon learned about the stabbing.
The person Patillo stabbed was treated for undisclosed injuries and has since recovered.
Authorities have not disclosed a possible motive for the random attack.
