Serious Drag

“We have no suspects and only very limited information,” reports Captain Ed Aceves with the La Mesa Police Department. There is a stabbing victim, though: he was treated early Sunday morning at Sharp Grossmont Hospital. His injuries were not life-threatening, and he has since been released.

At around midnight on Saturday, the victim says he was near the intersection of Fletcher Parkway and Grossmont Center Drive when he was approached by an unknown male. The stranger asked the victim for a cigarette. The victim told the stranger he had only the cigarette he was smoking but offered him a few drags. The stranger took up the offer. Once the cigarette was in his hand, he began to walk away. When the victim attempted to reach for it, he was stabbed in the gut by an unknown weapon.

“We could find no witnesses, couldn’t really find a crime scene,” says Aceves. Officers were called to the hospital early Sunday morning to meet with the victim. “He had walked from where it allegedly happened to the hospital. Officers went back to the location and could not find any evidence — no blood, no known witnesses. His version of what happened is unusual; usually one doesn’t get stabbed over offering a cigarette.”