A man was stabbed several times outside the Barking Parrot bar after a New Year's Eve celebration.
Sgt. Rick Dellebuur said at 1:32 a.m. on Sunday RCMP received a call from security staff at the Barking Parrot, located inside the Penticton Lakeside Resort, that there was a fight inside the bar and someone had been stabbed.
"The victim, a 24-year-old Penticton man, was taken to Penticton hospital and released with a cut to his face and stab wounds to his left side, back and arm," said Dellebuur.
The investigation is ongoing, but Dellebuur said after reviewing security video and the information gathered at the scene, police officers eventually identified and arrested a 22-year-old Penticton man. Dellebuur said the man who allegedly did the stabbing had ran out a back exit after the incident. Police later arrested a 22-year-old Penticton man and he was released for a court appearance in March with a charge of assault causing bodily harm.
"We are still trying to piece everything together and we are waiting for the victim to come forward to make a statement later this week. Right now we don't have a lot of the details of the incident," said Dellebuur.
Mounties dealt with a number of calls and incidents involving intoxicated people on New Year's Eve. One officer had a complaint lodged against him after a man suffered a broken leg at the time of his arrest at around 11:30 p.m. on Dec. 31. As per RCMP policy, the matter is being investigated independently by the Nelson Police Department. Dellebuur said besides that incident and the stabbing it was nothing out of the ordinary for such a night.
"It was fairly routine and expected," said Dellebuur. "It was a busy night and we had extra resources both in the city and up at Apex ski hill. People were fairly well behaved, but anytime you have people out partying and out and about celebrating we are going to have additional calls for service."