Police: Quibble over semi truck parking spot results in stabbing

LAKE POINT, Tooele County — An argument over a gas station parking spot led to a stabbing that put one man in the hospital, according to police.

About 11:20 p.m. Saturday, two truck drivers got into an argument in the parking lot of a Flying J in Lake Point.

"The two drivers got out and exchanged words, got into an altercation. The two passengers got in the middle of it, and one passenger stabbed the other passenger," said Lt. Travis Scharmann of the Tooele County Sheriff's Office.

The suspect and the driver then left, and the wounded man was transported to the University of Utah hospital in a helicopter with one stab wound in his stomach. He is expected to recover but was not cooperating with authorities, according to Scharmann.

The victim and his driver were brothers from Michigan, he said.

Authorities were searching for the two men who left, reviewing gas pump records and surveillance footage, which yielded few details of the incident. Their truck was described as a white semi with a flatbed trailer hauling two-by-four lumber that wasn't covered, the lieutenant said.

Ricky Sweeney is a truck driver who stopped at the Flying J on Sunday. He said parking problems are common for truckers across the U.S., but few elevate to a physical altercation.

"It's distressing," Sweeney said. "Stress probably has a lot to do with it, but you have a lot of irresponsible people."

Scharmann said the driver of the victim described the suspect and his driver as white and possible foreign nationals from Russia who spoke broken English.

"First time we've had something this serious over a parking stall," Scharmann said. "There's a few things not making sense to us, but we're still looking into it with the victim not being too cooperative."

Contributing: Sandra Yi, Brianna Bodily

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