MANCHESTER, N.H. --
After a year-long search, Manchester police said they caught a man wanted in connection with a knife attack after one of the victims chased him down an alley with a machete Monday.
Police said Miguel Ramirez, 30, accidentally severed his own finger in the attack a year ago, leaving it behind as evidence.
Police said they located Ramirez early Monday morning after one of his original victims was chasing him down an alley with a machete. The man with the machete was stopped by a citizen with a gun who called police, who then located Ramirez in the area.
Ramirez was charged with three felonies: two counts of second-degree assault and one count of first-degree assault.
Police said that on May 22, 2010, Ramirez hit another man in the face with a beer bottle at WR Taverna in a fight over a woman. The fight then spilled out into the street.
Police said Ramirez slashed another man across the chest with a knife and was out of control as he stabbed his friend in the abdomen and even cut himself. It was that cut that would enable investigators to identify him, police said.
"The suspect had severed his own finger and fled the scene," said Lt. Nick Willard. "We were able to recover the finger and make a positive identification of the person, who turned out to be Miguel Ramirez."
In court, prosecutors said Ramirez had given several birth dates and told authorities at different times that he had been born in Mexico, only later to say he was born in Honduras. Police said there is evidence that Ramirez may be involved with a gang.
"Some of the tattoos that are on his body indicate that he may be affiliated with a gang," Willard said. "That's intel that we will assess as we continue to do the investigation."
Police said the victim who was chasing Ramirez with the machete, Hector Reyes-Quintanillia, 36, has been charged with felony criminal threatening.
Police credited the man who held the machete-wielding man until police arrived with preventing a serious assault and possibly a killing.
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