California man arrested in stabbing of France train attack hero

Reuters
U.S. Airman 1st Class Spencer Stone following the attack on a French train which he helped foil. Stone was repeatedly stabbed in Sacramento, California and is in stable condition, media reports said on Thursday. REUTERS/US Air Force/Tech Sgt Ryan Crane

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (Reuters) - Police in California arrested a man on Wednesday on suspicion of attempted murder in the stabbing of U.S. Air Force airman Spencer Stone, one of three Americans who thwarted an August train attack in France.

Sacramento police Chief Sam Somers said on Twitter that 28-year-old James Tran had been arrested.

Tran has a gang affiliation and a previous felony arrest, a police department spokesman said. He is being held in the Sacramento County jail.

Stone, who along with friends Anthony Sadler and Alek Skarlatos subdued a gunman on a high-speed train bound for Paris in August, was stabbed in the torso several times last month in what police described as a "nightlife-related incident" in Sacramento's busy midtown district.

Stone was released from the hospital on Oct. 15.

Authorities have said the fight was not related to Stone's role in the train incident in which the Americans took down a man armed with a box-cutter, a pistol and an AK-47 assault rifle.

They received accolades for their actions from the presidents of France and the United States.

(Reporting by Sharon Bernstein in Sacramento, Calif.; Writing and additional reporting by Eric M. Johnson in Seattle; Editing by Peter Cooney)