Man stabbed after fight in Astoria

Published 6:17 pm Sunday, June 18, 2017

A Washington state man was stabbed Monday night after a fight near the Doughboy Monument in Uniontown.

Witnesses said a group of about 10 people who appeared to be transients had gathered behind the monument when a man started throwing punches and kicking.

Kasey Burgess, 28, of Seaside, and Briean Jantes, 38, of Warrenton, who were attending a baby shower at the El Tapatio restaurant, said they ran outside to help. Many from the group began to flee.

But witnesses said a woman pulled a large knife out of her handbag and handed it to the man who was the aggressor in the fight. The man grabbed the knife, approached the man he had been attacking, and quickly stabbed the man near his stomach.

“I’m calling the police,” Jantes said she told the attacker. “Get your hands off him!”

Burgess and Jantes said they helped the injured man and applied pressure to his wound until emergency personnel arrived. He also suffered cuts above his left eye and on both lips.

Astoria Police found the man and woman near Bay Street minutes later. Police searched the scene and interviewed multiple witnesses before eventually bringing the two in for questioning. The couple was identified as Nickolys A. Glaser, 23, of Spring Valley, New York, and Erika N. Rasmussen, 21, of Ochelata, Oklahoma.

The wounded man, identified as Aaron Lee Ashby, 50, of Port Townsend, Washington, was taken to Columbia Memorial Hospital shortly after 7:30 p.m. Police said Ashby was treated for an injury that was not life-threatening and admitted overnight for observation.

Another man, Clinton Holmen, 32, of Astoria, was taken to the hospital after allegedly being kicked repeatedly. Police said Holman was treated and released.

Astoria Police said the altercation reportedly started after Ashby allegedly touched Glaser’s dog inappropriately. Ashby also reportedly assaulted Holmen.

No arrests have been made.

“This is a very complex, convoluted situation involving numerous people,” Astoria Police Deputy Chief Eric Halverson said in a statement. “Detectives will be working on collecting surveillance video from the area, and following up with witnesses in an attempt to determine exactly what happened. We would ask that anyone who believes they witnessed this incident, who has not already spoken with police, contact Detective Ken Hansen at the Astoria Police Department.”

Melisa McKinley, 21, of Seaside, said she could sense people in the group were under the influence of intoxicants.

“I could tell they were definitely on something,” she said. “They were just chilling and then decided to fight.”

When police and emergency personnel left the scene after 8:30 p.m., the partygoers returned to the restaurant for the baby shower.

“That was crazy,” McKinley said. “This will be one memorable baby shower. That’s for sure.”