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Port Alberni stabbing suspect arrested in Nanaimo

Man was also in possession of fentanyl: RCMP
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Police cordoned off the block of Fifth Avenue from Burde Street to Bute Street in front of the Phoenix House sobering centre in the early-morning hours of Sunday, April 4, 2021. (FACEBOOK PHOTO)

Nanaimo RCMP have arrested the man suspected in a stabbing incident on Fifth Avenue in Port Alberni on April 4.

In the early hours of April 13 Nanaimo RCMP received a complaint of unknown persons in a private vacant lot. When police attended, they identified one of the men as the suspect from the Port Alberni stabbing investigation.

The man was arrested and transported to the Nanaimo detachment, where police found him in possession of drugs believed to be fentanyl.

READ: Man stabbed in early-morning incident in Port Alberni

On April 4 Port Alberni RCMP located a man on Fifth Avenue suffering from multiple stab wounds. He was treated at the scene and taken to hospital for serious but non-life threatening injuries. Multiple people who witnessed the assault quickly identified the suspect, his specific clothing description and his last known direction of travel. Police Dog Services out of Nanaimo were contacted and began searching for the suspect, but were unable to locate him at the time.

“The suspect was well known to the victim and witnesses, as well as members of the Port Alberni RCMP,” Port Alberni RCMP Sergeant Clayton Wiebe said. “We believe this was an isolated incident, however the suspect has been known to be violent in the past.”

Police have not named the man, and did not release whether any charges were laid at the time of his arrest.

The man has since been released from custody with a court date of June 2021 in Port Alberni.

READ: Friends, family remember Clifton Johnston with candlelight vigil

The Fifth Avenue stabbing was the second such incident in a week in Port Alberni. The previous weekend a 20-year-old man died from multiple stab wounds in front of the Port Alberni Friendship Center. The two incidents were not related, and a suspect was arrested in the first incident.



susie.quinn@albernivalleynews.com

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