Two men stabbed in party early today in Valley

Spokane Valley police are investigating the events that led to two men being stabbed early this morning at a party and connections to earlier alcohol thefts from a Hico Village. Officers were called about 3:50 a.m. to a knife fight that erupted outside an apartment-converted home in the 10000 block of East Ninth Avenue. Two vehicles left the scene before officers arrived. Officers stopped the eastbound vehicle and found that the driver suffered a knife wound to the leg. The other driver took another man who was cut in the stomach to a downtown Spokane hospital, according to a police press release. Sgt. Dave Reagan, spokesman for Spokane Valley police, said the injuries to both men were not life-threatening. Reagan did not identify the victims or the hospital where the passenger was taken. Sgt. Doug Lawson reported that the man who was stabbed in the stomach apparently disarmed his attacker and used the knife he was stabbed with to slash the man in the leg. Detectives were trying to sort out variations in accounts from witnesses. Reagan said detectives are looking at the possibility the party may be connected to a pair of alcohol thefts from Hico Village, 9219 E. Sprague Ave., at 2:30 and 3:30 a.m. In the first theft, a man ran from the store with a bottle of wine. In the second theft, two men attempted to take four bottles of wine, but the clerk tried to block their path. She was pushed out of the way and the men escaped. The physical contact elevated the crime to a strong-arm robbery, Reagan said. Officers are going to review security video from the store in an attempt to link the thieves to the party, he said.