By Shavonne Potts
spotts@salisburypost.com
A Salisbury man who claimed he was stabbed in two separate attacks last week actually cut himself, authorities say.
David Wayne Michael, 28, told Salisbury Police Department officers he was cut as a man with a knife tried to rob him at his Milford Drive home Feb. 2. The next day, he said, a different man stabbed him in the abdomen at a Statesville Boulevard car wash.
Police said Monday that Michael’s injuries were self-inflicted.
“We investigated both incidents and determined it didn’t happen,” Salisbury Police Chief Mark Wilhelm said.
In the first incident Michael reported, he told police a black male demanded money from him while he was working on his car. The two scuffled and Michael punched the would-be thief. The suspect fell to the ground and fled. Michael was cut multiple times.
He went to the hospital, where he was treated and released.
Michael described his assailant as a slim black man in his mid-30s with a thin mustache.
At 8:05 p.m on Feb. 3, Michael said, he was at a car wash at 2144 Statesville Blvd., near Village Inn Pizza.
He said he was attacked and stabbed in the abdomen. He described the assailant in that assault as a large white man with a shaggy beard.