Two men stabbed at Ben Franklin's sandwich shop

Two men were stabbed in an incident Tuesday afternoon around 3:30 p.m. in the 300 block of Higuera Street, according to the San Luis Obispo Police Department.

A San Luis Obispo police detective was driving by Ben Franklin’s sandwich shop when he saw a disturbance involving several men and called for backup, police said. The responding officers were able to separate the parties and discovered that two of the men had been stabbed.

Police later identified the men involved as Jason Iorio, 23, of Belvedere Ill., John Vuras, 19, of Las Cruces, N.M., Michael Moorefield, 24, of Phoenix, Ariz., Robert Thrasher, 23, of Independence, Mo., and Adam Caraveo, 24, of San Luis Obispo, Calif.

Iorio, Vuras, Moorefield and Thrasher were in San Luis Obispo as part of a group that was selling magazines, police said, and were in a van when Caraveo walked by them.

One of the men allegedly yelled something at Caraveo and then all four jumped out of the van and attacked him. Police said Caraveo responded by pulling out a knife and fighting with the men.

When officers separated them, they determined that Moorefield had been stabbed in the back, and Thrasher had been stabbed in both arms, police said. The two men were treated for minor injuries at Sierra Vista Hospital.

Iorio, Vuras, Moorefield and Thrasher were booked into county jail for battery, and Caraveo was booked for assault with a deadly weapon, police said.

Police Lt. Chris Staley said that the detective who called in the incident had witnessed it, making the investigation very simple.

“Everyone involved was detained at the scene, arrested and interviewed that evening,” Staley said.

Arraignment will probably take place Thursday and if convicted, Staley said that the four men booked on battery may face up to a year in county jail on the misdemeanor charge. Staley said that if Caraveo is convicted, he may face as much as 4 years in state prison. The severity of the assault and the wounds inflicted would determine Caraveo’s sentence, he said.

Staley said that because the detective was on-site and all those involved were arrested, the case is wrapped up for the moment. Further information may come out in court, but Staley said it now appears that the incident began and ended at the scene.

Owner of Ben Franklin’s Sandwiches, Jim Wilimek, said that he has had experience before with men like the four in the van. He referred to them as trouble-makers from out of town, and was not inclined to fault Caraveo.

“Adam is a nice, mellow guy with a young family and all that,” said Wilimek. “He’s a good worker and I know his employers are supporting him 100 percent on this.”

Wilimek said that this is a very isolated incident; he has never heard of anything like this happening here and has lived in San Luis Obispo all his life.

He said that the four men in the van pushed a really nice guy to do something he did not want to do, and forced Caraveo to defend himself.

Wilimek also said that none of his employees were witnesses to the event because everyone was inside the building working at that time.