Springfield, Vt. — A Springfield woman died on Monday after police said she was stabbed in the neck and back by a man she was romantically involved with.

Police Chief Douglas Johnston said Betty Rodriguez, 58, was pronounced dead at nearby Springfield Hospital, where an emergency crew had taken her after the 1:45 p.m. stabbing. Emergency workers were unable to revive her, he said.

The suspect in the stabbing, Arnaldo Cruz, 54, also of Springfield, was arrested without incident shortly afterward, while he was laying face down on Union Street, about 150 feet away from the apartment building where the stabbing allegedly took place, the chief said.

He said that Rodriguez and Cruz were involved in a “boyfriend-girlfriend type” relationship.

Police cordoned off 25 Union St., a run-down, greenish-gray, 2½-story apartment house, and could be seen waiting outside the apartment on a debris-stuffed porch for search warrants to continue their investigation.

Other police officers, including Vermont State Police troopers, could be seen using metal detectors to scan snow-covered yards nearby in the search for a weapon.

Highway crews pulled the covers off street drains to assist police in their search.

Johnston briefed reporters at the Springfield Police Department around 6:30 p.m., about five hours after the stabbing, and said while the assailant had been arrested, no weapon had been located.

The police chief said Cruz would be arraigned today in White River Junction on unspecified homicide charges.

He said the exact charges would be up to Windsor County State’s Attorney David Cahill. He said the charges also would depend on the details turned up by the investigation. He said the case did not involve any element of self-defense.

Johnston said Rodriguez lived in an apartment on Summer Street.

An altercation broke out between Rodriguez and Cruz in an apartment occupied by Rodriguez’ sister, he said.

Grace Bentley and her family recently moved to 25 Union St. after being evicted from an apartment at the head of the Square, at the intersection of Main and Valley streets, according to Johnston.

Bentley is married to Victor Cruz, who was arrested in April on heroin and cocaine trafficking charges while the couple lived at the corner of Main and Valley. The police chief didn’t know if the two Cruzes were related, nor would he say if there were witnesses to the attack on Rodriguez.