By Nathan Hardin
nhardin@salisburypost.com
CHINA GROVE — A Charlotte man stabbed during an altercation at a Saturday night party has been upgraded to fair condition at Carolinas Medical Center at Charlotte.
Kleiber Ivan Madriz and Cody Benjamin Woolf both had several stab wounds after a party got out of hand about 10 p.m. at 2285 U.S. 152. Woolf was treated and released.
According to Trey Wright, three men came uninvited to the party, which was being held at Wright’s mother’s home and business, and began harassing one of the women there.
Wright said he asked the man causing the problem to leave, but the situation quickly escalated.
Wright said one of the men grabbed a kitchen knife and began trying to cut him.
His friend, Woolf, came to help, Wright said, but the man with the knife turned and stabbed Woolf “four to five times in the stomach.”
“One of them jumped on me. Cody tried to help me, but they grabbed one of my knives and started stabbing him,” Wright said. “There was blood everywhere.”
Wright said he’s not sure what happened after that, but said he remembers fighting with the man in his driveway and the man holding a knife to his throat.
“If I wouldn’t have been holding his hand (away from my throat), I wouldn’t be standing here talking to you today,” Wright said.
Wright said he did not see one of the uninvited men get stabbed, but said they fled in a truck on U.S. 152 in the direction of Mooresville.
Woolf was treated and released at Carolinas Medical Center-NorthEast. He could not be reached for comment Monday.
Madriz was listed in critical condition early Monday, according to a press release from China Grove Police Department. He was upgraded to fair condition Monday afternoon. According to the American Hospital Association, fair condition is defined as having normal and stable vital signs and being conscious.
Both men were taken to the hospital by private vehicles. Woolf was taken by his brother Nick Woolf, according to Wright. Nick Woolf could not be reached for comment.
Wright’s mother, Kelly Wright, said she was at a neighbor’s house at the time of the party, but rushed over after receiving a phone call that police were at her home.
“I’m concerned for my son,” she said. “He could be charged for something that wasn’t even his fault. They were trying to kill Cody and Trey.”
Kelly Wright said she’s worried about how the incident will affect her business, Annette’s Kennel and Boarding, which is beside her home.
“Now my business, my home is at stake,” she said.
China Grove Police said the incident was still under investigation Monday. No arrests had been made.