An attempted murder charge has been dropped against a Sarnia man arrested after a weekend stabbing left another man with a potentially life-altering spinal injury.
Police initially said two men in their early 20s were charged after a 33-year-old man was stabbed in the neck outside a Devine Street apartment building Friday night.
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Dillon Gray-Vail, 20, was arrested Saturday night and charged with attempted murder, possessing a weapon for a dangerous purpose, failing to comply with a release order, and four counts of failing to comply with probation, police said Monday.
Police also said Michael Vella-White, 22, was wanted on an attempted murder charge and asked anyone who knew where he was to call them. He was arrested Monday night and held for bail, police said later on social media.
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But he wasn’t in custody very long. Shortly before 4 pm Tuesday, a handcuffed Vella-White was brought into Sarnia’s bail court, where assistant Crown attorney Ian Maedel asked justice of the peace Pauline Bessegato to drop the charge.
“It’s marked withdrawn,” Bessegato told Vella-White. “You’re free to go.”
Appearing stunned at first, Vella-White repeated what she said, then thanked her.
“You’re welcome,” she replied.
“Thank you. God bless all of you,” Vella-White told court staff, then whooped loudly and left the courtroom.
Maedel did not explain to the court why he wanted the charge dropped. The Lambton Crown attorney’s office said afterwards it can’t comment.
Julie Craddock, Sarnia’s deputy police chief, said by email such decisions are up to the Crown and police can’t comment on cases before the courts. But in general, when a warrant is issued, a charge is laid based on the information available at the time.
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“If, for example, new information comes to light, or those charges need to change, be amended or even withdrawn, that is a decision of the Crown,” she explained.
The charges are still outstanding against Gray-Vail.
Officers responded about 8 pm Friday to a report of a man lying on the ground outside an apartment building in the 800-block of Devine Street, between Indian Road and Lilian Street, police have said.
Investigation revealed the man, who was bleeding from the back of his neck and had trouble moving parts of his body, had been cycling on Devine Street when he encountered two other males, police said.
They spoke, a physical confrontation ensued and one suspect stabbed the victim in the back of the neck, police said. Both suspects fled on foot.
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One arrest was made Saturday night and the other Monday night, police said.
The injured man was taken to Bluewater Health with a serious spinal cord injury, then to Victoria Hospital in London for specialized trauma care, police said. He’s expected to survive, but is at serious risk of life-altering injuries.
“The nature of this young man’s potential injuries are appalling, with lasting ramifications for both him and his family,” Police Chief Derek Davis said in a statement. “Community safety is a shared responsibility and our mutual success depends on public support.”
Police have asked anyone with home security or dashcam footage of the area, especially between 7 and 8:30 pm Jan. 12, to come forward. They also want to talk to anyone who may have witnessed the incident, including riders of a Sarnia transit bus that dropped people off near Westbury Court and Devine Street.
Anyone with information should call police at 519-344-8861 or Crime Stoppers at 519-332-8477.
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