ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. – A St. Johns County man was arrested over the weekend and his neighbor was taken to the hospital after an argument over cats escalated into a stabbing.
The incident unfolded shortly before 10 p.m. Sunday night at a mobile home park on Sidney Street near Columbus Street, according to the man's arrest report.
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Daniel Roy Rockmore, 33, was booked into the St. Johns County jail, where he's being held on a felony charge of aggravated battery in lieu of $15,000 bail, jail logs show.
According to Rockmore's arrest report, deputies answering a stabbing call at the mobile home park spoke with the victim who was clutching a towel over his stomach. The towel was covering a two-inch cut deep enough that the victim's internal organs bulged out.
The victim, who identified Rockmore as his attacker, was treated at the scene by paramedics and airlifted to Orange Park Medical Center for emergency surgery. His condition is not clear.
A friend of the victim told deputies the pair was collecting litter off the ground to prevent the cats from eating it. He said that's when Rockmore came outside and started an argument that turned physical when Rockmore started swinging at the victim. At some point, the victim was stabbed.
But Rockmore remembered things differently, saying the stabbing was self-defense. He told deputies he was outside feeding his cats when the pair came by and flicked cigarette butts at the cats. An argument ensued, he said, and escalated when the victim lunged toward him.
Deputies recovered a knife at the scene and then took Rockmore into custody.