PUNTA GORDA — A man has been charged with attempted murder after he allegedly beat and stabbed a woman in the face, neck and eye, according to the Charlotte County Sheriff’s Office.

Michael Ray See, 19, 11200 block of Pineapple Road, was arrested at 4:15 a.m. Sunday morning following an extensive manhunt throughout the night.

Authorities said See fled on foot after the 23-year-old victim ran to a neighbor’s home for help shortly before 7 p.m. Saturday. The woman was taken to Lee Memorial Hospital Trauma Center and underwent surgery.

A deputy spotted and captured See in the area of Pepper Road and Olive Circle. He was taken to the Charlotte County Jail, where he remains without bond.

See lived with his parents in the mobile home where the assault took place.

John McPherson, who lives adjacent to the home on Pineapple Road, said he was going to bed when he heard a loud knock on the door.

“Somebody yelled ‘Help me! Help me!’,” McPherson said. “‘Somebody stabbed me!’”

McPherson said he recognized the victim as a young girl whom See’s parents had taken into their home a few weeks ago.

McPherson said she was covered in blood and holding a towel to the wounds on her head, including a puncture wound to the eye.

“She had defensive wounds on her hands where she tried to block the attack,” McPherson said.

McPherson said the victim collapsed on the front porch and he called 911. Another neighbor, Jim Mederios, came over to help. Mederios said he was haunted by the scene.

“It just really disturbed me because I have granddaughters that age,” said Mederios. “It was very unsettling. It looked like he had her pinned to the ground and was sitting on her going at her face with a kitchen knife.”

Several neighbors described the victim as a quiet young woman with a petite frame. Michael See is 6 feet tall and weighs 200 pounds, according to his arrest record on the CCSO website.

McPherson said Michael’s parents were not home during the attack. They could not be reached for comment.

See was arrested last year for allegedly assaulting an employee at Charlotte High School, according to the CCSO website.

Email; mfavorite@sun-herald.com