Denny’s Employees Save Man with Slashed Throat After He Was Attacked on the Street

NEED TO KNOW

• Christopher Thomas' throat was slit near a Denny's restaurant in Portland, Ore., on April 19

• He sustained a severe throat injury, but survived after a witness helped him inside the Denny's, where employees further assisted him

• Christopher James Parkins was arrested, is in custody and faces multiple charges, including attempted murder

An Oregon man survived a throat-slashing after a nearby witness and Denny's restaurant employees helped save him.

On April 19, Christopher Thomas, 33, walked into a Denny's in Portland, Ore., with a slit throat, after Christopher James Parkins, 39, allegedly attacked him.

Parkins was arrested and pleaded not guilty to one count of attempted murder, one count of assault in the first degree, two counts of assault in the second degree and one count of unlawful use of a weapon, according to court records obtained by PEOPLE.

He remains in custody and is being held without bond at the Multnomah County Detention Center. He is scheduled for a preventive detention hearing on May 4.

Authorities were alerted of a man, later identified as Thomas, bleeding “badly” from his throat on April 19, according to the preventive detention affidavit obtained by PEOPLE.

A witness said he saw Thomas in the nearby parking lot moments after Thomas' throat was slit. The witness “looked over and saw a commotion and Thomas stumble back. He also saw the suspect tumble and fall as if he had been pushed,” per the affidavit.

Thomas then made a run for the Denny's, and the witness helped him inside.

Parkins was located with a 3-inch to 4-inch fixed-blade knife, with the blade "partially concealed by his sleeve,” according to the affidavit. He was identified as the suspect.

After he was read his Miranda rights, Parkins reportedly told authorities he “had been up for a few days and that he consumes methamphetamine by smoking it.” He reportedly said he was drinking the night before, he “lost his housing” days before and that he is now “staying on the streets," the affidavit alleged.

An officer asked what caused the altercation, but Parkins replied, “Everything feels like its not even real, like real," per the affidavit. He allegedly emphasized that he's not sure what is real and what's not. He said he did not “remember fighting with anybody or remember cutting anybody with his knife, but he remembers running” after he heard police sirens.

The slash to Thomas' throat was so deep that “his trachea was exposed," according to the affidavit. Thomas underwent surgery, but is still recovering, per the affidavit.

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Thomas' mother, Deborah, thanked the Denny's staff for saving her son's life.

“I just want to say thank you from the bottom of my heart," she told KOIN 6 News . “Because if it would have been any longer, he would have bled to death. There are very very good people, and I'm so thankful for them.”

“I'm very thankful that whoever was there, who saw, that helped him, they saved his life,” she said.

Deborah told the outlet that a friend had alerted her of the attack, and she then watched a news clip. She explained that her son was unhoused at the time of the incident, adding that she is not aware of what incited it.

PEOPLE reached out to the Multnomah County District Attorney's Office and the Portland Police Department for comment.

Read the original article on People