FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — A man was arrested Monday after he stabbed another man who was sleeping inside a home in Fort Lauderdale, police said.
According to Fort Lauderdale police Sgt. David Soika, the stabbing was reported at about 4:30 a.m. in the 600 block of NE Eighth Avenue.
Soika said officers arrived at the scene and met with the victim, who said that he was sleeping inside his home when he was awakened by someone striking him several times with a sharp object.
The suspect, later identified as Joseph Defex, 31, then fled the scene prior to police arriving, Soika said.
“The victim chased after the suspect in attempts to detain him for police officers,” Soika told Local 10 News in an email. “After a short physical altercation, the victim stopped fighting after noticing the suspect was still in possession of some type of sharp object.”
Soika said FLPD’s K-9 Unit and the Broward Sheriff’s Office’s Aviation Unit helped take Defex into custody.
The victim was transported to a hospital by Fort Lauderdale Fire Rescue with non-life-threatening injuries.
A motive for the attack remains unclear.
Defex faces charges of burglary with assault or battery and giving a false ID to officers.
As of Tuesday morning, he was being held at the Broward County Main Jail without bond.
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