A 20-year-old Eureka man and a 25-year-old Grover man are facing charges for allegedly assaulting each other at the Hwy. 66 commuter lot in Eureka. The Eureka man allegedly was stabbed during the incident, Eureka Police reported.
Police got a call about the alleged fight around 10:15 p.m. June 26, but when officers arrived, no one was at the commuter lot. However, a witness told police the Grover man had left the lot in an older-model pickup, traveling west on Hwy. 66, the report said.
Officers spotted the Grover man driving a 2016 Dodge Ram 1500 and stopped him shortly after he left the lot. The man denied being involved in an altercation and showed no signs of being in a fight. So, police let the man go, according to the report.
At about 11 p.m., though, Eureka Police got a call that the Eureka man had been taken by a friend to SSM Health St. Clare Hospital in Fenton to be treated for stab wounds. The Eureka man was transferred to St. Louis University Hospital, where police were able to interview him, the report said.
The Eureka man said the Grover man had stabbed him three times on the left side of his stomach and once on the right side. Eureka Police located the Grover man the next day, and he allegedly admitted to being involved in an altercation with the Eureka man the night before. He was arrested and taken to the Police Station, according to the report.
At the Police Station, the Grover man said the dispute started the night of June 25, when the Eureka man, in a 2003 Infiniti EX35, started honking his horn as the Grover man backed up his pickup. The Eureka man claimed the pickup nearly hit his car, while the Grover man said he was not close to the car, the report said.
After the two argued the night of June 25, they left the lot. However, on June 26, the Eureka man saw the pickup in the lot again, left to pick up a man and woman and then returned to the lot and allegedly confronted the Grover man, according to the report.
The Eureka man reportedly started driving around the pickup, and the Grover man allegedly threw a rock at the Infiniti, smashing the windshield. Then, the Eureka man got out of his car and allegedly got a bat from his trunk and swung it at the Grover man, the report said.
The Grover man told police he lost his balance and fell, and the Eureka man allegedly got on top of him and hit him. The Grover man also said he got a pocketknife out of his pocket and swung it at the other man but he was not aware he had cut the other man, according to the report.
Then, the man who arrived at the lot with the Eureka man reportedly broke up the fight, and everyone left the lot, the report said.
Eureka Police will seek a first-degree assault charge against the Grover man and a second-degree assault charge against the Eureka man through the St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office, Capt. David Wilson said.