Five workers were stabbed inside the kitchen of the Dos Coyotes Border Cafe at Thunder Valley Casino near Lincoln, Calif., on August 19, 2026, and none of them were hurt critically, according to the Placer County Sheriff’s Office. Grief for the victims has been voiced by the family of the man accused in the attack — 22-year-old restaurant worker Joseph Benedict John Naugle — whose relatives also described years of severe physical and mental health problems on his part.
In an August 23 statement to KCRA 3, the family extended its sympathies to the wounded Thunder Valley employees and their loved ones, saying it prays continuously for their recovery and peace of mind.
“While we cannot speak on the details of the active legal case, we hope there will be an understanding of the complex medical realities involved,” the family said.
No motive has been made public. Nothing more about what led up to the attack was available right away, officials said. The investigation, the sheriff’s office said, is continuing.
Violence in the Restaurant Kitchen
About 7 p.m. was when the stabbing came in as a report, according to the sheriff’s office, which announced the incident in a Facebook post. The restaurant’s kitchen area was where each of the five victims was stabbed, a Thunder Valley Casino spokesperson said. Everyone caught up in the violence worked there, and no casino guests were involved.
An area hospital took in one of the wounded, driven there with injuries that were not considered life-threatening, and that victim has since been released, according to reporting published August 26. Thunder Valley emergency personnel and Cal Fire crews treated the other four at the scene, and their injuries were not life-threatening either. A photo taken inside the casino captured first responders working on the wounded among the slot machines.
By then the scene had already been contained. A suspect was taken into custody within minutes of deputies arriving at the casino, the sheriff’s office said. The same striking image was captured by both a KCRA 3 news crew and a CBS News Sacramento camera: a man still wearing a kitchen apron, hands cuffed, being guided into the back of a patrol vehicle.
All Involved Worked at Dos Coyotes
Naugle was the man identified by the sheriff’s office, which said it appeared that each one of the people who were stabbed was known to him. He worked at Dos Coyotes, and the casino said the five stabbing victims were restaurant employees as well.
No other suspects were being sought, officials said, and neither the public nor anyone inside the casino faced an active threat. With the violence confined to a single back-of-house workspace, Thunder Valley was not evacuated and kept running for the evening.
The United Auburn Indian Community owns and operates Thunder Valley Casino Resort, which sits in unincorporated Placer County about 30 miles northeast of Sacramento and pulls crowds nightly to its gaming floor and restaurants. Among its dining options is Dos Coyotes Border Cafe.
Attempted Murder Charges and Court Dates
Prosecutors have charged Naugle with assault with a deadly weapon on top of the two attempted murder counts, which court records describe as premeditated and willful attempted murder, as of August 26. He remains in custody.
His first court date, Friday, August 21, produced no plea; the arraignment was continued instead. He is ineligible for bail, and the Placer County District Attorney’s Office filed five separate criminal protective orders against him, according to reporting updated August 23.
At a hearing on Wednesday, August 26, Naugle pleaded not guilty to felony attempted murder. His defense asked the court to appoint a doctor for a psychiatric evaluation to determine whether he is fit to stand trial, ahead of the advisory hearing set for September 2, according to reporting published August 28.
Why remains the question that has hung over the case since the first patrol cars pulled up to the casino, and it is still unanswered. No explanation of the attack has come from the sheriff’s office or from prosecutors, and the family’s statement, while pointing to Naugle’s medical history, stopped short of addressing the allegations directly.
The five wounded workers came through an outcome that was, by the narrowest of measures, better than it might have been. All five survived, and none faced life-threatening injuries. Four were patched up on site — an ending that owed something to how fast casino medics, Cal Fire and the deputies reached the kitchen.
