California woman, boyfriend stabbed by man she met on video game platform, police say

MONTEREY COUNTY, Calif. (KABC) -- A woman from California's central coast is recovering from a violent attack motivated by an apparent online obsession.

Investigators said she was stabbed and strangled by a man she had met on a video game platform. The incident happened on Nov. 25 at about 10 p.m., according to investigators.

Devin Vanderhoef, 25, is accused of traveling from his home in British Columbia, Canada to Monterey County and stalking the woman for days. With the help of a friend, identified as Darius Whyte and charged as an accomplice, Vanderhoef allegedly knocked on the woman's door, carrying a package and posing as a delivery driver.

Authorities said the woman's boyfriend answered the door and Vanderhoef began stabbing him. The woman then grabbed a weapon and started defending her boyfriend. That's when deputies said she was strangled and stabbed by the suspect while fighting back.

At one point, Vanderhoef dropped the package he was carrying.

"That box contained a pair of handcuffs, multiple knives and duct tape," said Monterey County Sheriff's Commander Andres Rosas. "We are very fortunate that nothing worse than what happened did happen. We have no idea what the intentions were with these items, but they couldn't have been good."

Investigators said the victims and suspect suffered minor to critical injuries but all survived.

Whyte was found by authorities sitting in an airplane at the San Jose Airport and arrested him before he flew back to Canada.

Vanderhoef is being held on $4.15 million bail.

Both men are charged with attempted murder and other charges.

Authorities remind the public to be careful while chatting with people online, and not share too many personal details.