Jan. 19, 2008, was supposed to be like any other night, but it turned into a bloody mess for former Ute defensive end Paul Kruger.
More than a year later, Kruger is alive and well8212;and signed on with the Baltimore Ravens8212;but the person who stabbed him is still on the loose.
Last January, Kruger was leav- ing a fellow teammate’s house with his younger brother Dave Kruger, his sister and fellow teammate Greg Newman. The group was walking near the in-tersection of 2900 South and 700 East when multiple carloads of people pulled alongside them and started shouting obscenities, according to the Salt Lake Coun- ty Sheriff ‘s Department. Kruger’s group told them to go away and jokingly threw a snowball at the lead car, which stopped and let passengers out.
According to the police re- port, the people in the car hit Dave Kruger in the face with a metallic object, believed to be brass knuckles, which left him with various cuts and a swollen face. Someone stabbed Paul Kru- ger twice in the abdomen with a knife, which missed most of his vital organs but did hit an artery, which led to heavy blood loss. He also suffered a collapsed lung. Someone stabbed Newman in the side with a screwdriver.
The attackers drove off in their cars, and an ambulance was called.
Dave Kruger and Newman were released from the hospital shortly thereafter. Paul Kruger needed surgery and released from the hospital a week later.
Now, a year and half has passed and the crime is still left unsolved. According to the case log at the Salt Lake County Sher- iff’s office, the office is still wait- ing for investigative leads or any
further information to come in. Although police do not have much to go on, they are still looking for a white 2000 to 2003 Mitsubishi Lancer with a Nevada license plate, which might have been one of the cars that was in-volved in the attacks. Since the assault, each player has gone his separate way and had different success. The U football team was the Sugar Bowl cham- pion of 2009. Paul Kruger entered the NFL draft shortly after the vic- tory and was selected as the No. 57 pick by the Baltimore Ravens. Dave Kruger still plays at the U as a backup defensive tackle.