Police arrest man suspected in stabbing

Police arrested a man this morning who is accused of stabbing a man in the ear. Police say multiple people reported the stabbing around 3 a.m. today, saying they saw two black men running from the scene near the 1500 block of East First Avenue. Witnesses also reported hearing a gunshot. Officers found the victim with non-life threatening injuries. They brought in a police dog to track the suspects and then were told by witnesses that the men went into a house near the 1600 block of East Pacific Avenue, a Spokane Police Department news release said. A call to 911 from a home on that block said a man who matched the suspect description was damaging the interior of the home. Officers surrounded the house and ordered the occupants to come out. Three people complied and told police the stabbing suspect had gone inside with another man and was breaking things, but had then passed out on a couch, the release said. They also told police a handicapped woman and a small child were inside and could not physically leave the home. Police went inside and found the suspect, identified as David D. Stephens of Spokane, 27, and arrested him on suspicion of first degree assault, and malicious mischief and domestic violence. Police say they don’t have enough evidence to charge the other man in the stabbing. The gunshot witnesses allegedly heard appears to be unrelated to the event.