Police: Woman Stabbed with Possible Semen-Filled Syringe

A man was arrested Tuesday after he allegedly stabbed a woman with a syringe at a grocery store in Churchton, Maryland.

Investigators found a syringe filled with liquid inside 51-year-old Thomas Bryon Stemen’s car and several more inside his home following his initial arrest, according to WUSA.

Friday, authorities confirmed that “All of the located syringes collected have contained semen,” after they received the test results.

However, police are reportedly still working to determine whether or not one of those syringes was the one used during the alleged assault.

Monday, reporter Ray Strickland tweeted the disturbing surveillance footage of the incident that occurred at Christopher’s Fine Foods on February 18:

@AACOPD releases surveillance video after a woman says she assaulted by a man and poked with a syringe at a grocery store in Churchton last week. Anyone with any information is asked to call 410-222-1960 or the tipline 410-222-4700. More tonight on @WMAR2News pic.twitter.com/ifucYFd8Y0

— Ray Strickland (@realraystrick) February 24, 2020

As the victim, Katie Peters, pushed her cart in the door, Stemen walked closely behind her and pulled what is believed to be a syringe from his pocket.

Moments later, the suspect appeared to stab Peters in the buttocks. She then bent over and walked backward out the door as he followed.

She told police she felt something near the puncture site and asked the suspect if he had burned her.

“Ya, it felt like a bee sting, didn’t it?” Stemen reportedly told Peters.

The victim said she began to feel pain as she drove home.

“I called my son and said, ‘Something’s not right, I hope nothing happens. I hope I make it home, I love you,'” Peters stated.

Anne Arundel County Police Sgt. Jacklyn Davis said the department plans to do additional testing to “find out what this victim is up against if she was stabbed with one of those semen-filled syringes.”

The suspect reportedly tried to stab two other women at the grocery store and police believe there may have been other victims who have not yet come forward.

“If you’ve seen this video, it’s very aggressive, it’s very deliberate — and that makes us think it’s not his first time doing this,” Davis noted.

Tuesday, Stemen was charged with first and second-degree assault and reckless endangerment. He is currently being held without bond.