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Thursday, March 28, 2024

Violent confrontation leaves roommate with bloody four-inch gash on his arm

Charles Edward Helfinstine

A Silver Springs man was arrested Thursday after a domestic disturbance turned bloody.

When deputies arrived at a Silver Springs home in the 2600 block of SE 179th Avenue, they found a man with a four-inch laceration to his arm, a Marion County Sheriff’s Office report states.

The man told deputies that he was attempting to remove a television from the home he shares with Charles Edward Helfinstine, 61, when the confrontation broke out. He said Helfinstine started punching him and then stabbed him in the right forearm with a kitchen knife. The man added that he didn’t hit Helfinstine nor have a weapon of any kind.

Helfinstine told deputies that his roommate was “furious due to being served with an injunction for protection.” He claimed that the man was choking and punching him repeatedly, so he retreated to his bedroom.

Helfinstine also told deputies that the man approached him with some kind of bladed weapon, possibly a box cutter, and a towel. He said he pulled a knife from a nearby drawer for protection, and when the man attempted to hit him with the towel, he accidentally hit the knife blade, causing the arm injury.

The report states that Helfinstine had a small amount of dried blood under his nose, but otherwise “had no visible injuries to support the statement that the victim had been on top of him while beating and choking him.

Helfinstine also didn’t know where the man’s knife or box cutter was, saying he had probably hidden it, the report says.

A woman who lives across the street said she could hear the confrontation but didn’t witness it. She said that she heard the victim yell that he had been stabbed and saw him leave the residence with his hand covered in blood as he screamed for someone to call 911. The woman added that she didn’t see the man carrying any kind of weapon.

The woman also told deputies that she hears the two men verbally or physically fighting “almost every night.” The deputy confirmed a long history of domestic violence between the two, pointing out a call to the residence May 22.

The deputy also pointed out in the report that an injunction had not been served to the victim, since Helfinstine claimed that’s what started the incident. Instead, the deputy said, the judge issued a notice of hearing without a temporary injunction.

Helfinstine was arrested, transported to the Marion County Jail and charged with aggravated battery using a deadly weapon. He was held on $10,000 bond and is scheduled to appear in court July 3 at 9 a.m.