Two wounded, one arrested in New Year's Eve argument

MATTAWA – Grant County sheriff’s deputies arrested a Beverly man on suspicion of assault and felony harassment following an incident reported late Wednesday evening in which the suspect and another man both sustained knife wounds.

 Around 11:45 p.m. on New Year’s Eve, MACC dispatchers said they received phone calls from a Spanish-speaking male saying “It’s an accident” while arguing could be heard in the background.

Deputies responded to a rural house with a number of occupants in the 15000 block of Road T.5-SW near Beverly.

There, according to the report, deputies heard differing stories that began with 34-year-old Roberto D. Velazco  “saying things” to a roommate, Mario Cortez Perez, also 34, who became upset and allegedly threw a bottle at Velazco but missed him. Velazco, in turn, produced a knife and tried to stab Cortez, cutting his nose. Velazco claimed Cortez threatened to kill him. A witness said he told them both to “calm down” and the two men separated.

But shortly afterward, Cortez also allegedly obtained a knife and stabbed Velazco in the arm. Cortez later told a deputy that he “defended himself by stabbing (Velazco) in the arm so he would stop,” the report stated.

There was probable cause to arrest both men for assault, deputies said, but Velazco was initially flown to an area hospital for medical care. A report of the incident was submitted to the Grant County Prosecutor’s Office for consideration of criminal charges. 

Cortez, who also sustained a sore shoulder and superficial stomach laceration, was examined at Columbia Basin Hospital in Ephrata before being booked into the Grant County Jail.

Cortez made an initial appearance this afternoon (Friday, Jan. 2) in superior court where he pled not guilty to a felony charge of second-degree assault with a deadly weapon. He remained jailed in lieu of $1,000 bail pending trial scheduled on Feb. 19 and was ordered to have no contact with Velazco.