Police: Man assaults roommate with boxcutter

A Hazel Park man is jailed on $250,000 cash bond after police say he attacked his roommate with a boxcutter, cutting his face multiple times.

Phillip Calhoun, 41, was in Hazel Park 43rd District Court on Tuesday to set a date for a preliminary examination on a charge of assault with intent to cause great bodily harm less than murder.

Police said they were called to a house in the 100 block of West Milton where the suspect lives with the 29-year-old man he assaulted on Feb. 8.

Hazel Park Police Chief

Brian Buchholz said officers were called to the house about 2 a.m. on a report of a stabbing.

The two men had been drinking throughout the evening and early morning, Buchholz said.

“Apparently the two had been arguing while drinking,” he said. “At one point the victim headed to the bathroom to take a shower when the suspect followed and started to grapple with the victim.”

Investigators said they have no information on what started the fight, which police said led to a violent assault on the younger man.

“The suspect punched the victim a couple of times and they started rolling around on the floor,” Buchholz said. “The victim was stabbed and had cuts on his cheeks and along his face and neck.”

Police transported the injured man to a nearby hospital.

Doctors there told them the man’s facial wounds came very close to opening one of the two main carotid arteries in his neck.

“The victim needed stitches and was later released from the hospital,” Buchholz said.

Police recovered the boxcutter knife they suspect was used in the attack.

“We don’t know if the suspect got the boxcutter from the victim, who carries one and may use it for work,” Buchholz said.

Calhoun gave police an account of the attack, but his version was contradicted by the facts, Buchholz added.

“The suspect told us the victim attacked him first,” he said. “The suspect claimed that he had two lighters in his hand and was defending himself.”

The felony charge against Calhoun is punishable by up to 10 years in prison and a $5,000 fine.

Calhoun has several warrants out for his arrest for drug and traffic related offenses.

He is due back in Hazel Park 43rd District Court at 3 p.m. Feb. 28 for a preliminary examination hearing before Judge Brian Hartwell.