Police to charge man leaving trail of blood
Published 12:00 am Friday, January 28, 2011
By Shavonne Potts
spotts@salisburypost.com
Clifton Thomas wasn’t sure who stabbed a belligerent man who walked onto his porch, but he wasn’t at all comfortable with the man being on his property.
The man walked up to Thomas, who lives at 1016 N. Main St., and began talking. “I went out to have a cigarette and he came bleeding on my porch,” Thomas said.
Thomas said the man told him someone across the street stabbed him. The man then told Thomas he would cut Thomas, to which Thomas said he could defend himself being a former soldier.
Eddie Cross was making a Lay’s snack delivery at M & L Mini Mart when the man jumped into the back of his delivery truck.
“I told him he had to get out of my truck,” Cross said.
The man told Cross he’d been shot and then said he’d been stabbed.
Cross said he didn’t have anything in his truck that would allow him to help the bleeding man, but he offered to call 911 for the man.
“I said, ‘I can’t help you. I said I’ll pray for you,’ ” Cross said.
But the man said he didn’t want police involved and threatened to cut Cross’s throat. The man left a trail of blood on the steps of the delivery truck.
Salisbury Police bandaged the man’s hand and spoke with him before emergency services personnel arrived. Paramedics and EMTs treated the man at the scene.
Police said they planned to charge the man for being drunk and disorderly, but he had not been processed at the magistrate’s office Friday night.
Contact reporter Shavonne Potts at 704-797-4253.