$3,500 raised for Toledo stabbing victim

Tony Leno was stabbed three times while taking a smoke break on Aug. 7. HERRAL LONG / AP Enlarge

Kathy Jarret, left, and Jen Teschner line up for some spaghetti being served by Lyn Moeltner, right foreground, and Cathie Slabaugh during the fund-raiser to benefit church custodian Tony Leno, who is still hospitalized. THE BLADE/JETTA FRASER Enlarge | Photo Reprints

Tony Leno doesn't remember the moment that his act of kindness became a nightmare.

"I never saw the thing he cut me with. All I knew, I looked up and I was a bloody mess and I was knocked to my knees," he told The Blade Sunday.

He was taking a smoke break Aug. 7 outside the Old West End church he cleans when a stranger approached him saying he was looking for a Detroit casino. Mr. Leno was directing the man back to the highway as he was stabbed three times in the abdomen.

Police since have linked the attack to a series of stabbings in Flint, Mich., and Virginia. Elias Abuelazam, 33, an Israeli citizen living in Flint, has been charged in one of the attacks and is expected to be charged in others.

Five of the stabbings have been fatal.

"I think what hurts the worst was he talked to me for three or four minutes after he got out his car, and he still decided to kill me after he saw I wasn't that bad of a guy," Mr. Leno said.

More than 300 people who agree Mr. Leno's not "that bad of a guy" turned out Sunday at the Collingwood Presbyterian Church, where he works, for a spaghetti dinner fund-raiser on his behalf. The event raised more than $3,500.

Though Mr. Leno couldn't be there because he is receiving inpatient physical therapy at Mercy St. Charles Medical Center, church leaders helped him record a spe-cial video message for the diners.

"Tell everybody I'm doing better and I'd like to see you soon," Mr. Leno told the congregation in the video. "Thank you to everybody. Every day, it gets better."

The turnout was "way more than we ever thought," said the Rev. Robert Anderson, pastor of Collingwood Presbyterian.

"God is about to turn some kind of tragic experience into some kind of blessing," he said.

Many of those who attended the benefit had never met Mr. Leno, or were just casual acquaintances of his.

"I never met the man, but I understand he did a lot of good here," said Bill Fielder, 83, of Temperance, who was at the dinner with his wife of 66 years, Jenny.

David Reedy, 55, of Toledo said he has seen Mr. Leno various Sundays when he visits the building to attend services held by the Central United Methodist Church congregation, which shares space there. It also took up a collection for Mr. Leno.

"Every Sunday, he was over here doing whatever it was he needed to do," Mr. Reedy said. "We would, you know, chat every once in a while."

Mr. Leno was once homeless and struggling with drug addiction, his church pastor said.

After working with a faith-based program through FOCUS, which is affiliated with the church, Mr. Leno is now independent and employed at the church.

Two case workers through FOCUS, Natalie Vorst and Heather Heroux, sat together at the fund-raiser.

Mr. Leno is hailed as a success story for the organization.

"I was very proud of him. Sometimes people we work with don't have a lot of follow-through, but he did. He really does," Ms. Vorst said. "It was a dark road for a while and he made a decision to get out of it."

The news that Mr. Leno nearly lost his life was a blow to all those who knew him, Ms. Vorst added.

"Now, you see all the turnout to this, and it's a tribute to all his hard work."

Church leaders have spent time at Mr. Leno's bedside and have watched his recovery. Mr. Leno credits such support and his faith in God as reasons he survived the attack.

"I have a faith in God. I believe without God, I wouldn't be here. I believe people willed me to live with their prayers," Mr. Leno said.

"They didn't expect me to live, but I'm looking them in the face bright-eyed and bushy-tailed."

Contact Bridget Tharp at:

btharp@theblade.com

or 419-724-6086.