Stamford police are searching for a panhandler they say stabbed a woman while she was walking with her 4-year-old.

Police say the incident happened on Myrtle Avenue near the I-95 overpass around 8:30 p.m. Saturday.

They say the woman was in front of a store when a man who appeared to be homeless came up to her and asked for money.

Police say the woman told the man that she didn't have any money, turned to walk away and then felt a sharp pain in the right side of her stomach.

They say when she got to her nearby apartment, she saw blood and realized she had been stabbed.

The victim suffered a 4-inch deep stab wound, officials say.

Police say the victim was hospitalized overnight, but is expected to be OK. The child was not harmed.

"It is unusual. Usually we tell people to just walk away from the situation and she did all the right things. Unfortunately, her 4-year-old child was there with her which is more troublesome for us," says Diedrich Hohn, of the Stamford Police Department.

Police say the male suspect is known to hang out near Myrtle Avenue and East Main Street.

Anyone with information is asked to call Stamford police.