38-year-old transient accused of stabbing man to death at a Burger King in Bellevue

BELLEVUE -- A 38-year-old transient Monday was ordered held for investigation of first-degree murder for the stabbing death of another man at a Burger King restaurant on Northeast 24th Street in Bellevue Sunday, court documents said.

Witnesses told police that the suspect, Steven Ovington Padilla, 38, was eating in the restaurant in a separate area from the victim, identified in court documents as Jose L. Arias, 65.

The suspect, Padilla, at one point came out of the restaurant's restroom, took a knife out of his jacket pocket, walked up behind Arias and started stabbing the victim in the upper torso area, the documents said.  Arias stumbled out fo the restaurant and died outside.

The suspect fled on foot, witnesses said. But police found Padilla, based on witness descriptions, about a mile and a half away, documents said. He was found to have a fresh laceration on the inside of the left thumb and fresh abrasions on his left knuckle, the documents said.  A K-9 unit led to the recover of a large fixed-blade knife within a sheath nearby, police said.

The motive for the stabbing is unknown at this time.