PORTLAND, Ore. — A man accused of stabbing a person in Wood Village was arrested Thursday, the Multnomah County Sheriff's Office reported. The stabbing happened outside the Fairview Woods Apartment complex Thursday morning near Northeast 232nd Avenue and Halsey Street around 7:15 a.m.
The stabbing victim was transported to a local hospital where he remains in intensive care, MCSO said Thursday afternoon.
Michael Wayne Romine, 56, of Wood Village was taken into custody. He faces charges of second-degree attempted murder, first-degree assault and unlawful use of a weapon.
KGW News talked with multiple witnesses to the stabbing including William Romine, a resident of the apartment complex and brother of the man arrested. He said he was standing outside smoking a cigarette when a man walked up to him and asked about getting some drugs.
"He asked me if I knew where he could get some ice, whatever the slang is for dope. I told him I don't mess with that... I never have, and I walked away," William Romine said.
William Romine said as he turned around to walk away, the man started to get upset with him and yell at him.
"He came up on the sidewalk and came up to me and punched me in the jaw," he said. "It shocked the (expletive) out of me. Someone would punch me. Ask me for dope. I don't deal with that."
William Romine said his brother, Michael Romine, saw the altercation and then walked up to the man and stabbed him in the neck.
William says he went into his apartment and grabbed his phone to call 911. At the same time, a TriMet spokesman said a bus driver pulled over to help the person, then called police. TriMet and the sheriff's office both confirmed the stabbing did not occur on the bus or TriMet property.
"Luckily they had some paper towels as you see all over the ground," William Romine said. "I came out and tried to help him and that's when the cops and everything showed up."