SOMERSET, Ky. (LEX 18) — A gas station employee in Somerset was arrested after he allegedly stabbed a man in the parking lot during an "altercation" on Wednesday, according to an arrest citation.
The citation states that the Somerset Police Department was dispatched to a gas station on U.S. Highway 27 on Feb. 19 for reports of a fight between two men, in which one was reportedly stabbed.
According to the citation, the suspect, who was identified by police as Joshua Caldwell, told officers that a man "came into the gas station and accused Caldwell of talking bad about him" and then reportedly "picked up an advertisement sign on the counter and slammed it down before throwing it at Caldwell."
Caldwell told officers, according to the citation, that he tried "getting the man to leave the store, but the verbal altercation continued outside, and that's when the man reportedly took a swing at Caldwell." In return, the citation states that Caldwell then "stabbed the man in the side of his abdomen, which caused the man to get in his vehicle and leave."
During the investigation, officers say they contacted the gas station manager, who "came to the store and showed security footage of the altercation."
The citation reads that the victim was taken to Lake Cumberland Regional Hospital in his personal vehicle, where it was discovered that he had "two stab wounds in the left side of his back, causing him internal bleeding." Further, according to the report, he was then "transported to UK Hospital due to the severity of his injuries."
As a result, according to the citation, Caldwell was arrested and charged with first-degree assault.
He is booked in the Pulaski County Detention Center.
