PORT ANGELES — A Clallam County man who was stabbed four times with a 7-inch knife — apparently the result of road rage — was in a Seattle hospital Monday evening.
The 22-year-old victim was listed in satisfactory condition at Harborview Medical Center, according to a hospital spokesman.
Leon J. Whitley, 40, was booked into the Clallam County jail for investigation of first-degree assault for allegedly stabbing the man with the fixed-blade knife.
Clallam County sheriff’s deputies said the victim was taken by friends to Olympic Medical Center on Sunday evening with two stab wounds to the back, one to the chest and one to the leg.
“They had been arguing back and forth after the accident, at another friend’s house,” said Clallam County Sheriff’s Sgt. Lyman Moores.
Moores said the catalyst for the argument was a rear-end collision that occurred when the victim, who was driving a van, pulled around a motor home to let the driver know the taillights weren’t working.
Whitley was a passenger in the motor home, and the two know each other, Moores said.
“This seemed to be an ongoing dispute between the two,” Moores said.
Detective Tom Reyes wrote in the certification for probable cause for Clallam County Superior Court that Whitley admitted to the stabbing.
Whitley told investigators the victim had pushed him first.
Court records said the victim was stabbed as he entered the motor home parked near 936 Durwachter Road, which is off Camp Hayden Road about five miles west of Port Angeles.
A seven-inch knife and other bloodied evidence were found in the van parked nearby, a sheriff’s spokesman said.
Clallam County Superior Court Judge S. Brooke Taylor set Whitley’s bail at $100,000 on Monday. Clallam County Deputy Prosecuting Attorney John Troberg cited public safety in his request for the bail amount.
Whitley, who is listed in court papers as homeless, was ordered to have no contact with the victim should he post bail.
Formal charging is scheduled for Wednesday at 1 p.m. in Superior Court in the Clallam County Courthouse in Port Angeles.
First-degree assault, a Class A felony, is defined in state law as an assault “with intent to inflict great bodily harm.”
Moores said the victim sustained “substantial cuts” but was alert at Olympic Medical Center.
