Police: Man stabs another man for throwing metal container down street

FAIRMONT, W.Va (WDTV) - A Fairmont man has been charged after authorities say he stabbed a man for throwing a metal container down the street.

Officers responded to a stabbing incident on Wednesday around 6:50 a.m. on Adams Street in Fairmont, according to a criminal complaint.

Officers say they spoke to the victim who said he was “throwing or kicking” a metal cigarette container down Madison Street near the Adams Street intersection when 59-year-old William Barstow yelled at him to be quiet because “throwing the … container was loud.”

The victim alleged that he “fumbled the container” and hit himself with it before throwing it in a nearby dumpster.

When the victim turned around, he said Barstow reportedly hit him in the back with something that felt like a blunt object. Moments later, the victim told police he realized he had been stabbed.

Court documents say officers then found Barstow, the knife used in the stabbing, and the clothes he was wearing when he stabbed the victim.

The victim was then taken to the hospital, officers say. His condition is unknown.

Authorities say camera footage from near the scene showed Barstow briskly walking away from where the incident happened.

Barstow has been charged with malicious assault. He is being held at North Central Regional Jail on a $100,012 bond.

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