Police arrest man in New Year's Day stabbing in downtown alley
An incident over a man's hair may have instigated a New Year's Day stabbing that left one man badly hurt and another charged with attempted murder.
Ryan A. Johnson, 36, 2424 1/2 S. Madison St., also is charged with aggravated battery and battery with a deadly weapon. He was booked into the Monroe County Jail about 10:30 Saturday night on $100,500 bond.
A detective arrested Johnson after locating him in a car near the intersection of Country Club Drive and Madison Street, according to a BPD news release.
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The 32-year-old stabbing victim survived a wound to his torso and is recovering. He told investigators he was stabbed about 1:30 a.m. in an alley near the 200 block of South College Avenue after encountering Johnson nearby several hours earlier.
"The victim reportedly asked the suspect if he could touch his hair, to which the suspect responded by telling him no," the news release said. "However, the victim stated that he touched the suspect's hair anyway. The two men then had a brief verbal exchange and the victim stated that he apologized for touching the man's hair after being told that he could not. The men then went their separate ways."
Until, police say, the two apparently met up again three hours later, in an alley behind the Atlas Ballroom bar, 90 minutes into 2023.
"The victim reported that as he was walking west in the alleyway at approximately 1:20 a.m., he recognized the man approaching him as the man whose hair he had touched a few hours earlier," BPD Capt. Ryan Pedigo said in a news release.
The man said the assailant bumped into him as he passed, and "the victim immediately began feeling pain in his abdomen and lifted his shirt, where he observed a significant wound and realized that he had been stabbed," the news release said.
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The victim walked toward College Avenue and asked a bystander to call 911. The caller told police he had seen a man matching the suspect's description walking east in the alley holding a knife right before the victim appeared asking for help.
Investigators reviewed security camera images from the alley and also from from inside Atlas Ballroom bar, where the suspect was located on video prior to the stabbing, the news release said.
The video also showed Johnson walking in the alley just before the stabbing wearing the same clothing the victim described, the police statement said.
Contact H-T reporter Laura Lane at llane@heraldt.com or 812-318-5967.
This article originally appeared on The Herald-Times: Charges filed in stabbing near Atlas Ballroom on New Year's Day
