Teenager charged with stabbing two men
Two 26-year-old men were stabbed repeatedly by a 13-year-old boy wielding kitchen knives after the pair intervened in what they mistakenly believed was a property theft, according to police.
The incident occurred on June 27 on 1100 block of 10th Street shortly before 2 a.m. According to police reports, the men observed, from a balcony, three juvenile boys pulling what appeared to be an incapacitated woman out of a car. The boys helped carry the woman into a neighboring residence, and then one of them returned to the car and appeared to be looking through the vehicle.
One of the men came down and confronted the boy, apparently believing a theft was occurring. The two began to argue and the boy ran back into the residence and returned with two kitchen knives. He attacked the man, and then attacked the man’s friend, who’d tried to intervene.
By the time Manhattan Beach Police Department officers responded to a call that came in at 1:58 a.m., both men had suffered numerous knife wounds and the boy had been subdued by another neighbor. Police discovered that the boy had simply been helping his aunt from her car into the house.
MBPD Officer Stephanie Martin said that the incident is an example of why people should call the police instead of intervening in a possible crime.
“The adults perceived something was going on that wasn’t, then they exchanged words,” Martin said. “Obviously, I would never say there is any excuse for this kind of action – but if you see something happening, call the police. We always tell people don’t go down and intervene. There is a fine line between people wanting to help and knowing what they are dealing with. Here is clearly an example – these guys had the right intentions. They thought they were helping or possibly preventing a crime, and then they were dealing with an individual who didn’t appreciate what they were saying. It escalates verbally and he arms himself and it ends this way – two people in the hospital and he’s in jail.”
The boy was arrested and charged with assault with a deadly weapon. The man who’d confronted him suffered multiple stab wounds, including lacerations to his left armpit, a nearly 5-inch cut across his bicep and several cuts to his back. His friend sustained multiple stab wounds to his back.
“It could have been worse, absolutely,” Martin said. “They were serious wounds, but thankfully they were not life-threatening.”
Martin reiterated that residents should always call the police first.
“You just don’t know how it’s going to turn out,” she said. “You don’t know who you are dealing with…We don’t want people to be vigilantes and take law into their own hands. We want people aware, but what they perceive taking place isn’t necessarily what is happening. Get on the phone, call 911, and give us a chance to get there so we can figure out what is going on. We have the protection. We have the tools.”