Lakeport >> A homeless man was stabbed Tuesday by a Lakeport resident who claims the man was making sexual advances.
Police responding to the initial call had little indication just what they would end up investigating a violent crime. First reports indicated a man was walking in and out of traffic, shouting at motorists on South Main Street at E Street Tuesday afternoon.
As the man, Wayne Pernell, 70, was speaking to officers from the Lakeport Police Department, he revealed what appeared to be a stab wound. Pernell then pointed up the street to a man later identified as Brett White, 33, and said he was the person who stabbed him.
Through the course of the investigation, officers learned that White and Pernell were drinking alcohol in the area of Lupoyoma Heights when Pernell made sexual advances toward White, Lt. Jason Ferguson reported in a media statement. White told Pernell to stop touching him but Pernell allegedly continued.
According to Ferguson, White was holding a folding pocket knife with the blade open. He reportedly warned Pernell that if he didn’t stop, he would stab him.
The encounter apparently escalated. Police investigations indicate that Pernell told White to “go ahead” and White reached toward Pernell with the knife and stabbed him in the left hand as he was placing his hands up to protect himself.
Pernell was evaluated at the scene by Lakeport fire personnel and subsequently transported to Sutter Lakeside Hospital via ambulance.
White was arrested and faces charges of assault with a deadly weapon or force likely to produce great bodily injury and criminal threats.
White was transported to the Hill Road Correctional Facility where his bail was set at $25,000.
Anyone with information is asked to contact officer Tyler Trouette at the LPD at (707) 263-5491.
