Whole Foods employee stabbed in attempted carjacking while leaving work in Laguna Niguel

LAGUNA NIGUEL, Calif. (KABC) -- A Whole Foods employee was stabbed and wounded Wednesday night during an attempted carjacking while he was leaving work in Laguna Niguel. The assailant fled and remained at large.

The attack occurred shortly after 10 p.m. in the store's parking lot near the intersection of Aliso Creek and Dorine roads, according to the Orange County Sheriff's Department.

Deputies arrived at the scene and found the victim, a man in his 20s, suffering from stab wounds to his arm. He was transported to a hospital and listed in stable condition.

His blood was still visible on the ground Thursday morning.

Witnesses said two construction employees who had been working on the outside of the Whole Foods building chased the suspect, who escaped.

"An extensive search for the suspect was conducted but he was unable to be located," the Sheriff's Department said in a statement.

"You could just tell that something was going on," said one of the victim's friends, who declined to give his name. "And then immediately when I saw my friend on the ground, blood everywhere, I ran as fast as I could, to just try and help however I could."

A description of the suspect was not available.