A woman is in stable condition at a Stamford hospital Friday after police say her husband stabbed her several times with a screwdriver.

Police say Michael Parrotta stabbed his wife as she sat with her seatbelt on in her car with the couple's 18-year-old autistic son in the passenger's seat.

The couple is going through a divorce, and police say there is a protection order out against Parrotta to stay away from his wife. There is a history of domestic violence that dates back to 2002, police say.

"A protective order is just a piece of paper, it doesn't necessarily protect the victim," Greenwich Police Lt. Richard Cochran says.

Parrotta told police his wife attacked him, but Cochran says police "quickly dispelled that theory."