A busboy who went after a chef with a meat cleaver in a Palo Alto restaurant two years ago will be sent back to China after serving a few years in prison on attempted murder charges.
Chunren Chen, 64, made a deal with prosecutors last spring that could have kept him behind bars for up to 12 years, according to the Palo Alto Weekly. He received only seven years, but will serve four due to time served.
Chen was sentenced Wednesday in Santa Clara Superior Court on attempted murder charges for attacking 55-year-old Zezhong Yang and striking him multiple times with a meat cleaver. The May 27, 2009 incident occurred in the kitchen of the Jade Palace restaurant on California Avenue in Palo Alto, the Weekly reports.
Palo Alto police said the attack was the culmination of a major disagreement between the two men. Yang suffered a 5-inch gash to his face, a cut to his carotid artery, and additional lacerations on his back, shoulder, neck, and thumb. He also sustained a fractured wrist, authorities said.
Deputy District Attorney Rob Baker told the Weekly that Chen agreed to be deported back to China after he is released from prison, despite his claim that the attack was committed in self-defense.
Court records indicate that Chen’s past life in China included torture and brain washing. Following a mental breakdown, he was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder, attention-deficit hyperactive disorder, and problems with anxiety, the records show.
The Weekly reports that after Chen fled China, he traveled through Spain and Bolivia before illegally entering the U.S. in 1996 and settling in California. He also has a criminal past here in the Bay Area; in 1997, he was arrested in Alameda County on charges of assault with a deadly weapon, according to the Weekly, but the case never made its way to court.
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