Kewanee police are asking for the public’s help in locating a suspect in a New Year’s Eve altercation in which the suspect reportedly attempted to stab his girlfriend.
“On Dec. 31 at approximately 11:49 a.m., officers from the Kewanee Police Department were dispatched to a residence in the 100 block of Payson Street in response to a reported disturbance,” Police Chief Stephen Kijanowski wrote in a news release. “While en route, officers were informed that a subject at the residence was attempting to stab other individuals.”
Officers encountered four individuals outside the residence. One individual sustained small scratches and a minor puncture wound to the back of her neck, the news release said, and another individual had a small cut on his hand. Neither sustained life-threatening injuries.
Officers entered the residence and found a man later identified as Scott Petty, 36, of Kewanee, sitting on the kitchen floor with a puncture wound to his right side.
“A preliminary investigation revealed that Petty was the aggressor in the incident and had attacked his girlfriend,” the news release said. “During the altercation, another male intervened to prevent the girlfriend from being stabbed, resulting in the injury to Scott Petty and the male’s hand.”
Petty was transported to OSF St. Luke Medical Center in Kewanee and subsequently transferred to OSF St. Francis in Peoria for further treatment.
Detectives with the Kewanee Police Department secured an arrest warrant for Petty, the news release said, but he “fled” the Peoria hospital.
“Officers are actively attempting to locate him,” the news release said.
Anyone with information regarding this incident or the whereabouts of Scott Petty is urged to contact the Kewanee Police Department at (309) 853-1911.
