By Steve Huffman
Salisbury Post
ROCKWELL ó A Rockwell man was treated and released from Rowan Regional Medical Center after being stabbed outside town late Sunday.
Justin Hines, 20, of 210 Austin St., drove himself from the scene of the stabbing to the Hardee’s parking lot on West Main Street where emergency workers responded.
He’d been stabbed once in the chest area and again in the upper abdomen.
Capt. John Sifford of the Rowan County Sheriff’s Office said the story of the stabbing is told from two conflicting points of view.
Sifford said the stabbing took place at 2460 Lower Palmer Road, the home of Gerald Ridenhour, 34.
According to Sifford, Hines said he went to Ridenhour’s house where the two men argued before Ridenhour stabbed him with an unknown object.
Sifford said Ridenhour’s take on the matter varies greatly. He said Ridenhour told officers he was being assaulted and only stabbed Hines in self-defense.
After the stabbing, Hines got in his vehicle and drove himself to the Hardee’s parking lot. Sifford said Ridenhour apparently followed, but left before emergency workers and Rockwell police arrived.
Deputies became involved when it was determined that the stabbing took place outside the Rockwell town limits.
Sifford said no charges have been filed, though an investigation continues.
Rockwell Police Chief H.W. Bost said his department dropped out of the investigation when his officers learned the stabbing took place outside town.
“I don’t know that anything happened at Hardee’s as was originally thought,” Bost said.
Contact Steve Huffman at 704-797-4222 or shuffman @salisburypost.com.