Christina Hall

Detroit Free Press

A parking valet with a concealed weapon permit is being credited with stopping a knife-wielding woman who attacked a female employee at the General Motors Tech Center in Warren this morning, leaving the victim hospitalized in critical condition.

GM released few details, but Warren Mayor James Fouts said the 52-year-old employee was stabbed multiple times by a 32-year-old woman who came to the facility and asked to speak to her by name.

The assault was stopped when the valet, Didarul Sarder of Warren, pulled out a handgun and pointed it at the two women, authorities said.

Sarder, 32, was not home when the Free Press contacted him by phone, but his wife, Jakia Sarder, said her husband is a supervisor with the valet service and has worked for the company for almost 10 years.

She told the Free Press that her husband was told to get off the premises after the incident. Fouts said he also heard the valet service fired Sarder because he violated his contract, which prohibited him from carrying a weapon. E-mail and voice mail messages from the Free Press were left with the valet service. Fouts later said on Facebook that the "decision was over-ruled by higher ups and he now has his job back."

GM spokesman Michael Albano said Wednesday afternoon that neither GM nor the valet service contracted by GM has fired anyone.

“Because this is an ongoing investigation we cannot comment," GM said in a statement. "However, we can say GM has not requested the valet be dismissed. To our knowledge the valet remains an employee of the vendor.”

One employee at the Tech Center, who was not authorized to speak on behalf of the company, told the Free Press that workers there are hailing the valet as a hero who likely saved the victim’s life.

The Tech Center is across from Warren City Hall on Van Dyke.

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Fouts said the employee was stabbed in the neck, abdomen and back about 9:30 a.m. and was taken to a suburban hospital after what authorities believe is some sort of domestic dispute between two women, who know each other. He said the suspect was taken into custody but has not been charged. He said the victim was in critical condition and required surgery;

Albano said the main lobby area off of Van Dyke, where the incident occurred, was closed after the attack but the rest of the Tech Center was open.

Fouts said the suspect went to the visitors desk and requested to speak with the victim. The two talked briefly in the lobby then went outside, where the victim was stabbed repeatedly with a steak knife, Fouts said. He did not know what the dispute was about.

"It's a very serious wound," Fouts said.

Fouts said he is not aware of anything like this occurring at the Tech Center before Wednesday.

"It's unprecedented. It's unexpected. It's almost unbelievable," he said.

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Fouts said he could not release more information about the suspect, because she has not been charged or arraigned.

Pat Morrissey, corporate news director for General Motors, said the company could only confirm a person is in custody, the employee went to the hospital and the company is cooperating with authorities. The company did not release information about the wounded employee. .

Albano confirmed that a robocall from internal communications went out to all GM employees in southeast Michigan, which he said would be common in an incident like this.

Last year, GM announced it would invest up to $1 billion into the 710-acre Tech Center campus, possibly adding 2,600 jobs to the 19,000 GM employees who work at the site. The sprawling campus is bounded by 12 Mile, Chicago Road, Mound and Van Dyke and is where the bulk of GM's engineering, advance technology and safety research is located.

Contact Christina Hall: chall99@freepress.com. Follow her on Twitter: @challreporter.