Richmond Police recently responded to a Fourmile Avenue residence in response to a complainant, advising that their neighbor had been assaulted and cut by a male subject.
Upon arrival, officers made contact with the victim who stated that the male subject, Steven Lane, had assaulted them. According to the victim, they and Lane had been drinking with some neighbors earlier. At some point, Lane allegedly started becoming increasingly agitated with the victim, and forced them to go inside their residence with him.
Arguing reportedly continued once they were both inside the home, which resulted in Lane repeatedly striking the victim in the head and face multiple times. According to the victim, Lane proceeded to hold a steak knife up to their throat and state that he was “going to kill [the victim]”. A cut to the victim’s arm was reportedly sustained during the confrontation.
Further reading of the citation indicates that Lane eventually stopped assaulting the victim and calmed down slightly afterwards. He then dropped the knife and went to a back room in the residence. This allowed the victim to climb out of the living room window to seek help.
Police examined the victim and observed dried blood on their shirt, a deep laceration on their right forearm, and marks along their throat believed to be from the knife Lane wielded during the assault.
Authorities located Lane in a bedroom closet crying. Lane was ordered to exit the closet, where he was then detained by officers. According to the citation, he told officers that he and the victim had been arguing all day, and that the cuts were performed by the victim. This claim was deemed to be inconsistent with self-inflicted wounds. Police say that Lane would alter this story later when he said that he did not see the victim cut themself, and that he only later saw that they were bleeding.
Lane was placed under arrest, and charged with 1st Degree Assault.
