MCSO: Stabbing linked to more violence

The stabbing of a Fort Bragg man in Noyo Harbor Tuesday appears to be the result of family members attempting to protect a woman from domestic violence, the Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office reported.

According to the MCSO, deputies responded to the 19000 block of South Harbor Drive in Fort Bragg around 8 p.m. Jan. 31 for a report of a stabbing. There they found a man identified as 41-year-old Fort Bragg resident Jack E. Lemay “suffering from multiple stab wounds.”

Also on-scene was a 22-yearold Fort Bragg man who was detained after reportedly admitting to stabbing Lemay, who was transported to Adventist Health Mendocino Coast hospital for treatment before being airlifted out of county for further treatment.

After talking to witnesses onscene, deputies reported learning that “Lemay had recently been physically abusive to his estranged spouse (who was not identified), and that the 22-yearold male, along with other family members, were attempting to assist her since that unreported assault.”

Then, according to the MCSO, on the evening of Jan. 31, Lemay reportedly violated the terms of his probation (stemming from a recent previous domestic violence incident) by showing up at his estranged spouse’s residence.

When the 22-year-old detained man, “along with other family members, followed Lemay away from the area of his estranged spouse’s residence … to make sure he left her alone, they all stopped in a parking lot and Lemay began to violently assault the 22-yearold male, who was sitting in a vehicle (through an open window). After being drug from the vehicle and punched multiple times by Lemay, the 22-year-old male produced a knife and used it to stop Lemay from violently assaulting him further.”

After being transported to the Sheriff’s Office Fort Bragg Substation, the man who admitted to stabbing Lemay was “interviewed and subsequently released.”

Following their investigation into the incident, “deputies are forwarding the investigation reports to the Mendocino County District Attorney’s Office seeking prosecution against Lemay for criminal threats, felony domestic violence battery, battery, and felony probation violation.”