Man stabbed near Prather post office, suspect arrested in Fresno County

A morning argument in Prather turned violent near the Kwik Serve gas station on Auberry Road and Highway 168, leaving a man in his mid-40s stabbed and rushed by air to a hospital while deputies arrested a 75-year-old local man.

Fresno County sheriff’s deputies said they responded around 9 a.m. to the Prather Post Office parking lot at 29460 Auberry Road, where they found the victim with a severe stab wound. EMS crews were on scene and later left with emergency lights to meet a life-flight helicopter, a signal of how quickly the call escalated along the foothill corridor west of Shaver Lake.

Investigators identified the suspect as Theodore Gallegos of Prather. He was booked into the Fresno County Jail on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon, and bail was set at $20,000. Deputies said the two men knew each other and had first been involved in a fist fight before the stabbing. The victim was stabilized by medical personnel after being airlifted, but he remained in critical condition.

The scene drew a response from the Fresno County Sheriff’s Office, Caltrans and local police, underscoring how a violent crime in a rural commercial strip can quickly require multiple agencies and a medical evacuation. In the foothills, where Auberry Road and Highway 168 funnel residents, postal traffic and travelers through a narrow corridor, a sudden stabbing can become a public-safety test just as much as a criminal case.

The sheriff’s office listed the case as #26-5921 and asked anyone with information to call 559-600-3111 or submit anonymous tips to Valley Crime Stoppers.