By admin 
As he stood before a bathroom mirror at a Wyoming rest area off Interstate 80, a Sacramento truck driver saw a strange man step up behind him.
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The stranger slammed a fist into his head, then plunged a knife into his arms, chest and rib cage, the 28-year-old trucker later recalled.
“I thought that now my final time had come,” said the truck driver, who asked to be identified only by his surname, Singh.
The Sweetwater County Sheriff’s Office in Wyoming has arrested a suspect in connection to the Sunday, Sept. 13, attack, which sent shockwaves across social media.
Singh is part of Northern California’s Punjabi Sikh community.
About 35% of California’s commercial drivers are Sikh, members of a religious minority who hail from India, according to the North America Punjabi Trucking Association.
“There is no known motive for the attack at this time, and there is no threat to the public,” Jeff Sheaman, a public information officer with the Sheriff’s Office, said in an email. “We will not be releasing any information until the investigation is complete.”
Here’s how Singh described the “horrific attack” to The Sacramento Bee:
Sacramento truck driver recalls brutal attack in Wyoming
According to the Sweetwater County Sheriff’s Office, the stabbing took place early Sunday morning near the Bitter Creek rest area at mile marker on I-80.
Singh, who has been driving trucks commercially on I-80 for the past three years, said he walked into the rest area’s bathroom after parking his truck.
“When I entered the restroom, I just looked in the mirror,” Singth told The Bee in a phone interview on Wednesday.
Then a man dressed in a blue tracksuit “rushed in, punched me in the neck, pushed me against the wall and kept punching me in the face,” he said.
Singh said he pushed his attacker away, but the man launched a second attack — this time with a knife.
“I received cuts on my arms, neck and chest, including a deep cut on the left side of my chest under my arm,” Singh said. “I was able to see the naked bone on my right arm.”
As blood gushed from deep puncture wounds on his torso and limbs, Singh fought to get away from his attacker.
The man lost his footing on the slick floor, left the bathroom and “fled the scene in his truck,” Singh said.
That’s when a disoriented Singh headed out of the restroom toward the dark parking area, desperate for help.
“I pulled out my phone and called 911 for assistance,” Singh said.
Singh then spotted a family at the truck stop. “I told the family that I had sustained injuries from the attack and asked for their help,” he said.
According to Singh, the family tried to chase his attacker but later returned to the rest area with towels to treat his injuries.
“The Hispanic family stayed with me until I was taken away in the ambulance,” Singh recalled, expressing gratitude for their kindness.
Sheriff’s deputies, Wyoming Highway Patrol respond to stabbing
Deputies with the Sweetwater County Sheriff’s Office were notified about the stabbing at approximately 3:27 a.m. Sunday, according to an agency news release.
When they arrived at the scene, deputies and a trooper from the Wyoming Highway Patrol found Singh “suffering from multiple cuts and stab wounds,” the release said.
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“During the investigation, it was determined the suspect had fled the scene in a tractor-trailer combination towards Rawlins following the attack,” the Sheriff’s Office said, adding that Singh provided law enforcement officials with a description of the suspect and the vehicle he was driving.
The Sheriff’s Office said emergency medical services personnel then transported Singh to a trauma facility.
California man arrested on suspicion of attempted murder
According to the Sheriff’s Office, Wyoming Highway Patrol troopers found the suspect — later identified as Andrew Kris Bzdak, 44, of San Gabriel — in Rawlins.
Bzdak was “taken into custody without incident,” the Sheriff’s Office said.
As of Thursday, Sept. 17, Bzdak was being held at Sweetwater County Detention Center on suspicion of attempted murder, according to jail records and the Sheriff’s Office.
Sikh community reacts to rest area stabbing
Sikh community members across the United States have reacted to news of the attack with sorrow and anger.
A video showing Singh bleeding while lying in the rest area circulated on social media after being posted by numerous people, including a Facebook user identified as Malhix47.
One Facebook user, Adv Jagjit Singh, called the incident a “hate crime,”
The incident occurred just days after the U.S. Department of Homeland Security posted, and later deleted, an X post featuring an image of a bearded man facing Optimus Prime with the text “self-deport or find out” and “Get off our roads, you don’t know how to drive Mr. Singh.”
California Gov. Gavin Newsom and Indian American groups condemned the Sept. 9 post as “racist propaganda” targeting Sikhs. The DHS said the post was intended to depict Harjinder Singh, a truck driver involved in a fatal crash in Florida.
“The Sheriff’s Office has said there is no known motive at this time, but we cannot separate this incident from the climate in which it happened,” Jasjit Singh Dhanoa,, an attorney and director of legal services at the Jakara Movement, told NPR.
The prominent Sikh advocacy group is based in Fresno.
“When our own federal government uses a Sikh name and image to tell people like us that they do not belong on America’s roads, our community has every reason to be concerned about the environment that kind of rhetoric creates,” Dhanoa told NPR.
The DHS told NPR that “any attempt to blame DHS for an unrelated attack is RECKLESS and FALSE.”
On Wednesday, Sept. 15, Dhanoa met with Singh at the Wyoming hospital on Wednesday where he is recovering.
“We are supporting him as he heals” and navigates the legal process, Dhanoa said, adding that Singh is maintaining a positive spirit.
“This unprovoked attack is deeply concerning, especially amid heightened anxiety around (Department of Homeland Security) and immigration enforcement, and underscores the need to protect Punjabi Sikh and all immigrant drivers,” Dhanoa told The Bee.
Sacramento man recovers from injuries
Singh said he “sustained a total of 17 injuries” in Sunday’s attack, including a serious injury to one of his ribs.
At first, his family in India didn’t know what had happened to him.
His brother was tracking his location live when the attack occurred on Sunday and called him multiple times without getting an answer.
Eventually, Singh’s cousin in Canada reached out, and Singh shared his ordeal.
“I informed my family about the incident but didn’t disclose the full extent of what happened to avoid causing them more worry,” Singh said.
Now in the hospital, Singh is on the road to recovery.
“I have undergone X-rays and other procedures,” he said. “I hope to be discharged soon.”
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This story was originally published September 17, 2026 at 12:12 PM.