A man convicted of a stabbing outside of a mosque in Ventura County has been sentenced to 16 years in prison.
Marco Delacruz and another man approached the mosque on Erringer Road in Simi Valley, and asked some people who were leaving if they could use a rest room. When told the building was closed, the two men began yelling ethnic and religious slurs.
Prosecutors say the men then started a fight with members of the mosque, and Delacruz stabbed and seriously injured a man. The victim has since recovered from the December, 2016 attack. The 27 year old Simi Valley man was convicted of assault with a deadly weapon. Because he had past convictions, he received an enhanced sentence.
The other man charged in the incident, John Matteson of Simi Valley, hasn’t gone on trial yet.