By CHARITY B. SMITH
Sunday Times Newspapers
WYANDOTTE — Two intoxicated men who had attended the 3rd Friday Beer Fest Sept 18 attacked a Dearborn Heights man and his girlfriend at knifepoint at 10:49 p.m. at the corner of Oak and 5th streets.
The couple was walking on Oak near 4th Street when they heard two men behind them talking loudly to themselves. When the men passed them they made vulgar comments toward the woman.
The couple caught up with the men at Oak and 5th and witnessed one of the men urinating on a church fence.
“You know you can get put on the sex offender list for that,” the Heights man told the men. The intoxicated man became instantly enraged by this and charged at the Heights man, who tried to walk away. The attacker then lunged at the Heights man with a knife and started waving it toward the man’s stomach.
Fearing he would be stabbed, the man and his girlfriend fled west on Oak to 6th Street. The woman then shouted that she was calling 911 as the men were approaching. The men fled instantly and she called 911.
Police officers announced the attackers’ description over the police radio and the two men were found, staggering, shortly thereafter in the area of 5th and Elm. Police found the knife, as described by the victims as having a black handle, in the left back pocket of one of the attackers. The victims were then able to positively identify the suspects, who were then arrested.
The officers could smell alcohol on the men and asked them how much they had to drink. One of the men admitted to having just come from Beer Fest and willingly submitted to a blood alcohol test, which came back at .191, more than twice the legal limit of .08 in Michigan.
When further questioned the next day one of the men had no recollection of a knife fight. The other, who was accused of using the knife, gave an entirely different scenario than the victims, and alleged that the Heights man had actually threatened to beat him up after witnessing him argue with his girlfriend.
He alleged that he only showed the knife and that he was too far away from the Heights man to stab him. He further claimed that he did not slash the knife and does not remember much after that except being picked up by police.
One of the men was arrested for public intoxication and later released on bond. The other is being held for felonious assault.