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Bond set at $100K in fire chief's stabbing

Posted at 12:20 PM, Jan 21, 2016
and last updated 2016-01-21 15:44:41-05

Bond has been set at $100,000 for the woman accused of stabbing Denver Fire Chief Eric Tade.

Marlene Zacevich-Rodriguez, 42, is accused of jumping into Tade's SUV outside the fire station on East Colfax and attacking Tade on Tuesday afternoon.

He managed to get out of the SUV and walk to the fire station for help.

“I pulled up to the light (at Colfax & Speer) and was making a phone call to a Division Chief about a fire prevention issue,” he said. “The last thing I remember was telling him, ‘Hold on.’ That’s obviously when the stabbing occurred.”

Tade wouldn’t go into detail about the attack, saying police asked him not to.

He did say it was a surreal experience.

“The scariest thing was being trapped or being restrained while it was going on,” he said.

Investigators believe it was a random attack.

“Motive has been a big question among folks,” said Denver Police Department spokesman Doug Schepman. “At this time, it does not appear that Chief Tade was targeted because he was a fire chief or public safety official.”

Zacevich-Rodriguez is being held on investigation of second-degree attempted murder and first-degree assault, according to court records. 

Rodriguez’s son told Denver7 that his mom “hallucinates” and that he questions her sanity.

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