Man who slashed friend's throat because he changed radio station gets nearly 6 years in prison

A 27-year-old man who slashed his friend's throat when he changed the radio station was sentenced Thursday to nearly six years in prison.

Santos Kuyam had been drinking in the car with three friends last Nov. 7 near Northeast 61st Avenue and Lombard Street. Kuyam told Mario Salazar-Castillo not to change the radio station.

When Salazar-Castillo did anyway, Kuyam became so angry that he cut a 6-inch-long wound into Salazar-Castillo's throat, investigators say.

Two friends who were in the car later told police that the attack was unprovoked. Kuyam had been sitting in the back seat and Salazar-Castillo was in the front passenger seat.

Salazar-Castillo has made a remarkable recovery.

"Sounds like he was really lucky," said prosecutor Jeff Auxier, who spoke to medical staff who treated Salazar-Castillo. "It was one of those cases -- just a few millimeters to the left or right and it would have been a different outcome."

Police arrested Kuyam at the Cracker Box Tavern after receiving a report that he was there. A bar patron told police that Kuyam had been saying: "I have to ... I have to ... I have to ... I cut my friend he say I would die," according to a probable cause affidavit....

He was sentenced in Multnomah County Circuit Court to five years and 10 months in prison.

Kuyam told authorities at the time of his arrest that he was going to start a new job as a construction worker the next day. Kuyam was born in Mexico and has been in the United States for about eight years. He likely faces deportation when his prison sentence is over.