LEESBURG, Florida—A argument outside a Leesburg gas station Thursday afternoon escalated to a stabbing and landed one man in jail and another in the hospital, according to an arrest affidavit.
Leesburg Police Department responded to a stabbing report at Sunoco, 1200 West Main Street and found the victim responsive, but in a lot of pain and “clearly in need of medical attention,” the affidavit states. He was transported to a local hospital and then airlifted to a trauma center for the stab wound on the top, left side of his rib cage. He was not publicly identified.
A witness told LPD the victim was cursing at “Baxter,” later identified as Baxter Marc Rishell, 61. The pair began to argue, the witness said, and Rishell pulled out a black and green pocketknife and “poked” the victim in the side of his body. The witness said Rishell, of Leesburg, then threw the knife into the grass near the side of the building; LPD located the knife with “fresh blood” on the blade.
A second witness refused to give police a statement and Rishell, who appeared to be heavily intoxicated, told police he was near the incident when it happened and he was “unsure if the suspect was Hispanic or white,” the affidavit states.
Rishell was taken into custody and arrested for aggravated battery with a deadly weapon. He is being held in Lake County Jail on $10,000 bond.
