Man wore Halloween mask while stabbing victim, attacking woman in Oregon, cops say

A Halloween mask-wearing suspect allegedly attacked a woman, then stabbed a man during an assault last week, police said.

Joshua William Cates, 31, has been arrested and charged with first-degree robbery, second-degree assault and coercion, according to police in Eugene, Oregon.

Police say Cates followed a woman to her residence while wearing a Halloween mask.

After she parked her vehicle and had the door propped open to get out, Cates allegedly attacked her and attempted to pull her into the vehicle, according to police.

The woman struggled to fight off the suspect and was ultimately helped by a man babysitting inside a residence and came out to intervene, authorities said.

The babysitter got the suspect off of the woman and during the struggle, he was stabbed by the suspect, authorities say.

The suspect ran off and the babysitter chased him. The male victim then found a neighbor with a vehicle, who drove with him to look for the suspect.

During this search, they realized the babysitter had a stab wound, and he was driven back to the residence.

Police could not initially find the suspect. Eugene, Oregon, police investigated and identified Cates as a suspect from his vehicle and evidence left at the scene.

Cates was located a short time later, concealed in the back of a vehicle of a friend and not far away from the location of the assault. Cates was arrested and transported to the Lane County Jail.