NAUGATUCK — A New London man is accused of slashing his friend with a box cutter at a gas station here during a road trip to buy marijuana in Waterbury.
It happened in the parking lot at the Mobil gas station on South Main Street May 22 when James Kelley, 37, cut his 31-year-old friend on his face, chest and hands after the man told Kelley to get out of his car, police said.
Kelley, however, initially told police that he was the actual victim.
Just before midnight on May 22, police came across Kelley, who was bleeding from his face, arms and legs while walking on Woodbine Street, police said.
Kelley claimed he had been assaulted by a man in the parking lot at the nearby Mobil gas station on South Main Street and dragged by a car when he tried to stop the man from driving off. But he said he didn’t want to give police the assailant’s name, nor did he want to press charges, according to an arrest warrant affidavit. He was treated at a hospital for non-life-threatening injuries.
The following day, Naugatuck police received a complaint from Waterbury officers who said a different man checked into Waterbury Hospital claiming he was assaulted at a local gas station, the affidavit states. The man, who suffered non-life-threatening injuries, said he, his girlfriend and Kelley were on their way to buy marijuana in Waterbury when they got off the wrong exit and ended up in a gas station parking lot, the document states.
The man said Kelley was complaining and yelling at them, so he told Kelley to get out of the car and that Kelley attacked him with a box cutter, according to the affidavit.
Kelley told police the other man was drunk, high on crack cocaine and had attacked Kelley. Kelley said he had $300 on him and that the man and his girlfriend tried to rob him, the affidavit states.
Kelley is the only person who had been arrested, as of press time. He has been charged with first-degree assault, reckless endangerment and disorderly conduct.
He was arrested by warrant May 24 and held on a $100,000 bond before appearing at Waterbury Superior Court May 26. He did not enter a plea and his case was continued.
