By Jon Johnson
MORENCI – A man who claimed to have been stabbed during a bar fight was flown to a Tucson hospital for treatment.
On Sunday, Aug. 12, a man entered the emergency room at Gila Health Resources in Morenci suffering from a stab wound to his abdomen.
According to his statement to a Greenlee County Sheriff’s deputy, the man said he was at the Bull Pen bar in Safford with a female and when he went outside to smoke a cigarette a man with a white beard followed and informed him the woman was his girlfriend. The victim said he was then stabbed and entered into a continued physical altercation with the unknown assailant. Afterward, the victim said he got into his truck and drove to a friend’s house in Morenci. On the way, he advised he pulled the knife out of his stomach and threw it away between Safford and Morenci.
The Greenlee deputy then called Safford Police at about 11:07 p.m. and informed an officer of the situation. The Safford officer’s ensuing investigation did not fit the victim’s narrative, however, and how and who stabbed him was called into question.
A bartender at the Bull Pen advised everyone who had been in the establishment that night had been regulars who she knew and nobody matched the description of the victim. Additionally, she said there hadn’t been any fights that night and no evidence of any sign of a struggle was found in or outside the bar and in its parking lot.
The Safford officer then informed the Greenlee deputy of his findings.
