Man Allegedly Mows Down Wife In SUV With 3 Children Aboard, Stabs Her

A 41-year-old Queens woman has been hospitalized with critical injuries after her husband allegedly mowed her down in an SUV with their three children inside the vehicle. The man reportedly got out of the car afterward and stabbed the victim.

The incident took place outside a residence on Parsons Boulevard near Franklin Avenue in Flushing, Queens, around 5:30 a.m. Tuesday. A white Ford Explorer, which was waiting outside the home, accelerated and slammed into the woman, identified as Sophia Giraldo, while she was walking toward the vehicle, according to surveillance footage accessed by the New York Post.

With the 36-year-old suspect Stephen Giraldo behind the wheel, the SUV hit a fence in front of the home and flipped on its side. Stephen then got out of the vehicle and allegedly stabbed the woman.

Sophia suffered severe injuries in the attack and was rushed to a nearby hospital in critical condition. The three young boys — aged 6, 9 and 11 — who were inside the vehicle during the incident weren't physically injured, NBC New York reported.

Sophia, who runs a life-coaching business for women, often talked about her struggles with a "relationship filled with abuse and betrayal" on podcasts, as per the New York Post. A number of witnesses said she lived with her children in a house across the street from where she was hit.

"Nothing ever happens on this block," one neighbor told the outlet. "I don't know how a car flipped over."

The superintendent of the building where Sophia lived said she moved there with her three boys to escape her husband, according to the outlet.

Another neighbor said the woman was "always with her three children," New York Daily News reported.

"She's a very nice person," Irina Lyon, another neighbor, told the outlet. "She's a nice mother. She goes to work, she goes church every day."

Stephen, a Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) bus driver, was arrested Tuesday night and charged with attempted murder, assault, endangering the welfare of a child, reckless endangerment and criminal possession of a weapon.

The MTA reportedly issued a statement following the incident, noting that Giraldo has been suspended without pay in view of the investigation against him.

Police said Stephen attacked his wife over a domestic dispute, as per the outlet. An investigation has been launched into the matter.