John Thorpe, 71, was arrested and charged with resisting arrest, attempted murder, and criminal possession of a weapon following a deadly incident where a 66-year-old man was stabbed in the neck on Christmas Day, NBC New York reports.
Thorpe was involved in a dispute with someone inside Ebony Cards and Gifts in New York just before 4 p.m. when he left the gift shop to go to his car and retrieve a knife. Thorpe returned and stabbed the victim in the neck, leaving him with what police called a deep laceration with substantial pain, swelling and bleeding. The victim was taken to the hospital and is in stable condition.
“The defendant ran towards the victim holding the knife yelling ‘I'm going to kill you’ as he intentionally plunged the knife into the left side of the victim's neck causing a deep laceration," court documents read. The dispute was reportedly over lottery tickets.
When authorities arrived, Thorpe allegedly didn't want to be cuffed and taken away, so he initially resisted arrest.
"The defendant began to struggle with officers, flailing his arms in an attempt to prevent them from placing him into custody," police said. Thorpe eventually complied and was detained after being tased, prosecutors said.
Thorpe was being held on a $250,000 bail as he awaited his arraignment on Thursday at First District Court in Hempstead.
