Suspect Charged After Man Stabbed in Stomach While Walking Dog

Sep 28

A Bemidji man is charged after Minneapolis police say he stabbed another man in the stomach during an encounter downtown last week that left the victim critically injured.

Prosecutors charged 28-year-old Cheyenne Brandon Lee Clark with first-degree assault causing great bodily harm and second-degree assault with a dangerous weapon for the Sept. 24 stabbing near 1400 Portland Avenue in Minneapolis.

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Officers were called after a 911 caller reported that a man had been stabbed in the stomach. Police arrived to find the victim leaning over and clutching a wound to his abdomen, with part of his intestine visible. Officers provided aid until medics arrived and rushed him to the hospital, where doctors performed emergency surgery. He was later listed in stable condition.

Witnesses directed police to a man across the street who matched the description of the attacker. Officers identified him as Clark, who admitted to stabbing the victim as he was taken into custody. Investigators noted that Clark made statements that did not align with the circumstances.

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According to the victim, he had been walking his dog with his girlfriend when Clark approached holding a knife. The victim said he grabbed a stick and later a metal pole to defend himself, but Clark stabbed him in the stomach before being struck on the head.

The victim’s partner told police Clark confronted them, saying, “Why did you look at me like that?” She ran back toward her car for safety, then saw her boyfriend holding his stomach. She handed him a pipe to defend himself and he struck Clark, causing Clark to drop the knife. She picked it up and gave it to police.

Neither the victim nor his partner knew Clark or had any prior conflict with him. In a post-Miranda interview, Clark told officers he had “snapped,” that he had “enough of life,” and that he was trying to get himself killed. He admitted stabbing the victim once and said he chased him in an attempt to “entice” the victim to kill him.

Clark remains jailed in Hennepin County on $150,000 bail. A judge ordered him to have no contact with the victim, remain law-abiding, not use drugs or alcohol, submit to random testing, stay away from weapons, appear at all hearings and take medications as prescribed.

If convicted, Clark faces up to 20 years in prison on the first-degree assault charge and up to seven years on the second-degree charge.

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