Birthday boy stabbed friend in gut, police say

On his 19th birthday he stabbed a friend in the gut, police say.

Now Christian Perez Velez, who was staying at 260 N. Commerce Ave., faces a malicious wounding charge for the single stabbing wound that Waynesboro police said left a man hospitalized at the University of Virginia Medical Center.

Police responded to Apartment 206 at about 10:22 p.m. Saturday. Inside the same room where three men were arrested on charges they attacked a man with a baseball bat a week before, the victim was found stabbed in the abdomen. Police have not released the man’s name.

Waynesboro police Sgt. Kelly Walker said the man’s injuries are not life-threatening.

Police found Velez on Sunday on Shenandoah Avenue, where he was arrested without incident.

Walker said the men were allegedly arguing about property kept in the apartment, where they were both staying with another man. Police have spoken with witnesses, Walker said.

Court records show Velez pleaded guilty to forgery and obtaining money by false pretenses in May and received a suspended sentence of three years. Malicious wounding carries a maximum possible sentence of 20 years in prison.

Velez is in custody at Middle River Regional Jail in Verona.