NEW SMYRNA BEACH, Fla. — New Smyrna Beach police say they’ve arrested a homeless man for attacking another homeless man with a large knife Wednesday night.
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New Smyrna Beach police officers responded to the 100 block of Canal Street near Riverside Park at approximately 8:45 p.m. Wednesday for reports of a stabbing that had just occurred.
The officers arrived to find a witness who described the attacker as a white man wearing black pants and a red hoodie, but said they had since lost sight of the suspect and weren’t sure which way he ran.
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According to an incident report, a responding detective looked across the street and saw a man matching the suspect’s description lying on his stomach on the ground with his head in his hands.
While securing the suspect, later identified as 34-year-old Joshua Coulter, officers say they found a red-handled kitchen knife with an approximately 10-inch-long blade in his pocket.
Deputies noted Coulter appeared to be highly intoxicated and was making unusual statements. Police also say his hands and the knife they recovered were covered in blood.
Next, investigators contacted the victim inside of Yellow Dog Eats. Police say he was sitting in a chair by the restrooms with a trail of blood leading up to him.
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Police noted the victim was using towels to stop the bleeding from an injury that appeared to be on his leg and that his right leg, shoe and sock were completely covered in blood. Investigators also noted in their report that the victim had a large pool of blood beneath him and was still actively bleeding from the wound to his leg..
The victim identified an acquaintance by the name of “Josh” as the person who stabbed him. When asked why he was stabbed, the victim only said the suspect “got salty” but couldn’t recall what the disagreement was about initially.
According to police, the victim said he would have received additional stab wounds to his stomach, but Coulter’s knife broke during the attack.
The victim was eventually taken to Halifax Health to be treated for injuries described as non-life-threatening.
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Officers on the scene were notified about an additional victim nearby who described being assaulted by Coulter for no apparent reason while he was at the New Smyrna Beach Brewery.
Coulter was taken to the New Smyrna Beach Police Department to be charged with aggravated battery with a deadly weapon, battery, and resisting an officer without violence for initially refusing to identify himself to police.
He’s being held in the Volusia County jail on a total of $12,000 bond.
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