Matthew Thomas Newlon, 34, of Arnold has been charged with two felonies for allegedly stabbing another man, leaving him critically injured.
The incident happened Sept. 24 outside a home in the 1200 block of Airglades Drive in Arnold, and investigators believe Newlon ditched the knife in Plattin Creek in Crystal City following the incident, Arnold Police reported.
Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office deputies arrested Newlon at about 10 a.m. Sept. 25 at a home in High Ridge, police reported.
On Sept. 26, the Jefferson County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office charged Newlon with first-degree assault, causing serious physical injury, a class A felony punishable by 10 to 30 years or life in prison, and tampering with physical evidence in a felony prosecution, a class E felony that carries a sentence of up to four years in prison, court records show.
As of Sept. 30, Newlon was being held without bond at the Jefferson County Jail in Hillsboro.
At about 8:30 p.m. Sept. 24, the victim, a 57-year-old Arnold man, went to the home on Airglades Drive in Arnold to collect money he allegedly had lent Newlon. The two argued about the money, and Newlon allegedly stabbed the man at least one time in his chest and once in his stomach, the probable-cause statement in the case said.
After the encounter, the alleged victim walked to his nearby apartment and called 911 for help. Rock Township Ambulance responded and transported the man to Mercy Hospital South in south St. Louis County, the report said.
As of Sept. 27, the man was in critical but stable condition with non-life-threatening injuries, Arnold Police Lt. Jeremy Christopher said.
Newlon went to his home on North Bayshore Parkway after the encounter and allegedly told his roommates he stabbed a man and needed to leave the area. Investigators believe Newlon then traveled to Crystal City and discarded the knife in Plattin Creek, the report said.
Christopher said divers searched the creek on Sept. 25 and Sept. 26, but the knife was not recovered.
Newlon, a prior offender, previously pleaded guilty to at least three felony charges, court records show.
In May 2009, he pleaded guilty to second-degree robbery stemming from a 2008 incident in Jefferson County. He was sentenced to five years in prison, but after completing a 120-day shock incarceration program, he was placed on five years’ probation, according to court documents.
In April 2015, Newlon pleaded guilty to a felony possession charge and a misdemeanor domestic assault charge tied to a 2013 incident in Jefferson County. He was sentenced to four years in prison for the felony, but he was released after serving a three-month sentence for the misdemeanor and was placed on five years’ probation, court records said.
In December 2017, he pleaded guilty to felony possession of marijuana connected to a 2016 arrest in De Soto. He was sentenced to four years in jail, according to court documents.