A Harlingen man is behind bars following a mini-crime spree where he got stabbed by his girlfriend while she was defending herself against him.
Harlingen police arrested 21-year-old Erik Franco on multiple criminal charges over the weekend.
Investigators told Action 4 News that it all started when Franco showed up to the Harlingen Medical Center with stab wounds on Friday morning.
Franco and his girlfriend allegedly told officers that it happened when he got robbed by two men in downtown Harlingen.
Detectives later learned the stab wounds were actually made by his girlfriend during a domestic disturbance at their North J Street apartment.
The woman told police that she stabbed him with a broken glass bottle while he was strangling her.
According to police, Franco coached his girlfriend on what to say and go along with the story.
Doctors released Franco from the hospital on Friday afternoon but later learned he broke into a relative’s home off North R Street to steal $450 dollars worth of electronics.
Police found Franco a couple blocks away and charged him with assault family violence, filing a false police report and burglary.
Franco appeared before a Harlingen municipal court judge on Saturday morning where he was issued $130,000 dollars in bonds.
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