Modesto police ID man stabbed Saturday near downtown

Police have identified the victim of a fatal stabbing Saturday afternoon on Almond Avenue as Patrick Hutchings, 56, of Modesto.

Hutchings did not live on Almond, they said, and was the lone victim in the incident.

About 5 p.m. Saturday, Modesto police officers responded to the report of a stabbing in the 100 block of Almond, off McHenry Avenue about a quarter mile from downtown. Hutchings was found outside when officers arrived, said Lt. Ivan Valencia. He was taken to a hospital, where he died a short time later.

Detectives are not releasing any additional information at this time. There was no word on how many people are being sought, what led to the stabbing or exactly where it occurred.

Hutchings was a road hand for the Modesto rock band Triple D, said the band’s bass player, Kirk Oblauskii, whose stage name is Doc Roc.

“He was a good, trustworthy person,” Oblauskii said. “As musicians, when we’d play X-Fest, we could walk away and knew everything was going to be OK. I had been through rehab and NA and AA like him, which is one of the reasons I trusted him so much. ... Our goals were the same. Rebirth is what we called it.”

Hutchings had a background in the Los Angeles music scene, working in record production and promotions, Oblauskii said. He knew industry people in Los Angeles who were crucial for local musicians to know, Oblauskii said, and would help out Modesto talent by putting their names into conversations. Oblauskii recalled Hutchings recommending him for a gig when a touring act playing the area needed a bassist.

“All he lived for was the music and his family. He cared so much about that.” Hutchings would turn down work if he knew it conflicted with something important to family, Oblauskii said.

He said he thinks Hutchings lived somewhere around the area where he was killed, because when Triple D would play in Graceada Park, Hutchings would walk over.

A gofundme page set up to raise money for a memorial service says Hutchings is survived by “two sons, Joey and Hayden, and his best friend, Diana Marks, the mother of his minor son, Hayden. He also leaves behind three siblings, Tom, Jim and Cindy.”

This story was originally published November 28, 2016 at 1:21 PM with the headline "Modesto police ID man stabbed Saturday near downtown."