Police have arrested a Vienna man who allegedly stabbed an area restaurant worker.

Police say they received a call about 2:45 a.m. Saturday from an employee of Vienna Inn on Maple Avenue, reporting he had been assaulted. Officials found the 38-year-old man bleeding and took him to a local hospital, where he was in intensive care.

Police say 21-year-old Jaimea Espinal of Vienna has been charged with aggravated malicious wounding in the incident. Espinal allegedly stabbed the victim at the Maple Avenue Restaurant before making a quick getaway.

Those familiar with the area say they are shocked by the attack. "[Vienna] is generally a very safe community, so you don't hear a lot about anything like this happening," said former Vienna resident, Kevin Stratton.

Saturday morning was different.

The owner of the Virginia restaurant was at the hospital this morning and spoke with ABC 7/NewsChannel 8 reporter, Phil Stewart. "He's a great guy, a friendly guy, harmless, so we don't know," said Marty Volk, owner of the Vienna Inn. "We're waiting for the answers too."

Police say the the motive for the stabbing, and whether it happened inside or out, is unclear. But what they do know is the victim frequently works nights, cleaning up after closing time. Volk said, "He's coming in and out of the building several times."

Evidence was found both inside the restaurant and out in the parking lot.

"Everybody who works at the Vienna Inn is probably considered family on some level, so to have somebody get hurt...our hearts go out to them," said Vienna resident, Pat McCloskey.

The victim worked at the establishment for 14 years. He is described as an Hispanic male. He is a husband and father. He underwent surgery Saturday morning at Fairfax hospital and is expected to be OK. "Now that we've seen him; we're happy," said Volk. "Not happy that it happened, but we're happy that he's doing well. It could have been worse."