By SHELLEY TERRY - Staff Writer - sterry@starbeacon.com
ASHTABULA — An Ashtabula man’s throat was cut early Thursday during an argument over money, police said.
The man, whose identity is being withheld by police, was treated and released at Ashtabula County Medical Center.
The incident was reported as a stabbing at 5:15 a.m. in the 3500 block of Station Avenue, according to police reports.
“A female at the residence called police when (the victim) came back into the apartment,” Detective Sgt. Joseph Cellitti said. “We put out a description of the (perpetrator’s) vehicle.”
Ashtabula police were immediately on the scene, investigating the incident and interviewing possible witnesses, while area law enforcement were on the look-out for the suspect’s vehicle.
Mentor police spotted the vehicle an hour or so later and arrested a suspect, Celllitti said.
“He is in jail now on an unrelated charge,” he said, noting police expect the city solicitor to charge him today with felonious assault in relation to the stabbing.
The suspect’s name will be released at that time, police said.
This is the second stabbing on Station Avenue in three weeks.
Police detectives have interviewed two men in connection with the Feb. 11 fatal stabbing of Robert Ezell, 37, of Roaming Shores, in the 4000 block of Station Avenue.
“We’re waiting for lab work to come back,” Cellitti said. “Then that will be sent to Jefferson and brought to the grand jury.”
Ezell died from multiple stab wounds to the chest and extremities, according to a preliminary report from the Cuyahoga County Coroner’s Office.
Police blocked the street that night as they searched for the perpetrator.
Ezell’s stabbing death is the first homicide this year in Ashtabula.
