A 22-year-old Haverhill man is recovering from what police call non-life threatening stab wounds after a Thursday night fight broke out inside a home on Maple Avenue.
Officers responded to 3 Maple Ave., No. 3 just after 7 p.m. April 18 to break up a fight between two men that had escalated to a stabbing. According to witnesses, several people were drinking and playing board games when Frailyn Rodriguez—a resident of the Maple Avenue apartment—is said to have returned home and got into a fight with another man there as part of the group.
According to police, “Rodriguez became upset because (the victim) was there and said ‘Why are you here? You have no consideration for others,’ before he grabbed a kitchen knife off the counter.” Others described the weapon as a butcher knife.
After the stabbing, Rodriguez fled the scene, police said. A Massachusetts State Police K-9 team brought in to track his movements was unsuccessful.
Rodriguez appeared before Judge Richard Mori in Haverhill District Court Friday morning. He had turned himself into Haverhill Police at the Bailey Boulevard station just 12 hours earlier and was arrested on charges of armed assault to murder and assault and battery with a dangerous weapon.
Mori appointed Attorney Timothy Connors to act on Rodriguez’s behalf at arraignment, ordering him held without bail pending a hearing to determine if he is a danger to himself or the community next week.
The victim of Thursday night’s incident received stitches as a result of his injury. Due to children being present during the altercation, the Department of Children and Families was notified, Haverhill Police said.