David Mendez faces a felony assault charge in connection with the Nov. 6 attack, which unfolded in broad daylight. Police said the 46-year-old victim, whom they have not publicly identified, was stabbed three times in the arm and torso.

“[Mendez] pushed his way into the vehicle on the driver’s side, possibly through the window and then stabbed the victim multiple times and then fled,” Cranston Police Col. Michael Winquist said.

Winquist said the two men knew each other. First responders found the victim bleeding heavily and with a very faint pulse, the colonel said. The man was hospitalized in critical condition but has since stabilized, police said.

Cranston’s network of Flock license-plate-reading cameras helped detectives identify Mendez within seven minutes of the stabbing, according to police. A witness also provided officers with information about the suspect and his vehicle, including a partial license plate.

“That information gave our detectives an immediate and significant investigative lead,” Winquist said.

But making the arrest proved more complicated. Police said Mendez immediately crossed state lines into New Bedford, where he had been staying in an acquaintance’s garage. Flock cameras in Massachusetts that Cranston police can access showed him leaving Rhode Island the same day as the attack, Winquist said.

“The suspect was on the run. He had an idea that we were looking at him,” Winquist said.

Rhode Island, Massachusetts and federal authorities collaborated to take Mendez into custody Thursday morning. He will be charged with felony assault when he is returned to Rhode Island, police said.

Officials cited the case as an example of the technology’s value. “We will continue to use any resource that we can to make this the safest city in Rhode Island,” Cranston Mayor Ken Hopkins said.

The arrest comes as communities across the region debate the benefits and privacy implications of automated license-plate readers, which have proliferated in recent years. Cranston officials have leaned on the cameras as a core investigative tool, while civil liberties advocates have urged clear policies governing data retention and sharing across state lines.

For residents of the Park Avenue complex, the stabbing marked a rare burst of violence in an otherwise quiet neighborhood. The victim’s recovery and Mendez’s pending arraignment in Rhode Island were the latest developments in a case that moved quickly from a parking lot to a multi-state manhunt.