Aug. 19—Rebekkah Lucas wrapped up work Thursday at Piercing Pagoda in Viewmont Mall and made her way to the exit.

As she neared the door, the sight of a screaming woman holding her neck made her halt. The woman had been stabbed, she heard someone shout.

The next few bloody moments passed in a blur as Lucas did what she could to help. Before long, Dickson City police said they had the attacker in handcuffs.

That man, Kevin Michael McDermott, 42, 127 S. Irving Ave., second floor, is held at the Lackawanna County Prison without bail.

Police accused McDermott of stabbing an employee at the mall, Henna Patel, though his motive is unclear. Dickson City Police Chief William Bilinski said the investigation remains ongoing. McDermott's mental health history will be examined, he said.

When officers arrested McDermott moments after the stabbing Thursday night, he had a bloodied 4-inch kitchen knife in his right front pocket.

First responders rushed Patel to Geisinger Community Medical Center. Bilinski said she was reportedly in stable condition.

"Nobody deserved what she went through," Lucas said. "I hope she heals well."

According to a criminal complaint prepared by Officer Dereck Cadwalder, police initially responded to the mall at 7:41 p.m. to investigate a report of a man, later identified as McDermott, walking around the food court with a knife.

Witnesses reported the man — dressed in a white T-shirt, khaki shorts, glasses and a blue baseball cap — walked toward a woman working at an eyebrow threading kiosk, identified in the complaint as Patel.

McDermott stabbed Patel in her neck as she attended to a customer, police said. McDermott put the knife back in his pocket and left, police said. Screams rang out.

Lucas saw the frantic woman covered in blood and dialed 911, but the call did not go through. Patel's customer seemed to be in shock, she said. Lucas sought a nearby security officer, then called 911 again. The police will be there soon, the 911 operator told her. Lucas pressed her sweater onto Patel's neck to try to stanch the bleeding.

Soon, another bystander — a former nurse or EMT, she said — arrived and helped. Together, they tried to keep Patel awake and talking. Lucas stroked Patel's hair and tried to reassure her everything would be OK.

"I just wanted to stop her bleeding honestly," Lucas said. "That was the only thing that was in my mind."

Soon, first responders arrived. They changed out Lucas' sweater for sterile gauze and took Patel to an ambulance.

Lucas waited for the police to take her statement. She needed to wash her hands. Blood seemed to be everywhere.

Meanwhile, the police sought the suspect.

They learned he walked toward JC Penny and left the mall through the front door by Applebee's.

Dispatchers relayed new information — McDermott entered a tan or gold Hyundai Elantra — and provided officers with the license plate number.

Cadwalder saw a gold Elantra driving slowly through the parking lot and followed. The vehicle's registration matched and he moved to stop the car.

Once the Elantra stopped, police ordered McDermott to the ground. McDermott replied he would not fight and laid down on his stomach. Soon, police had him in handcuffs.

In 2008, police alleged McDermott placed several phone calls to a man with the offer to pay $10,000 to stab then-District Attorney Andy Jarbola. McDermott, police said, had been previously arrested on drug charges and for making terroristic threats and felt he had been unfairly incarcerated. He wanted Jarbola, now a Lackawanna County judge, injured so severely he'd need 150 stitches.

A few months later, a judge determined he was incompetent to stand trial and sent him to Norristown State Hospital, a psychiatric facility, for treatment.

In 2009, he pleaded guilty to harassment and told a judge he made arrangements to continue his mental health counseling. He was sentenced in 2010 to a year of probation.

On Friday, police charged McDermott with attempted homicide, aggravated assault, simple assault, recklessly endangering another person, possessing an instrument of crime, harassment and disorderly conduct.

A preliminary hearing is scheduled Aug. 29.

Contact the writer: jkohut@timesshamrock.com, 570-348-9100, x5187; @jkohutTT on Twitter.