Man pleads guilty to aggravated assault after stabbing in park - East Idaho News
Crime Watch

Man pleads guilty to aggravated assault after stabbing in park

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POCATELLO — A man accused of stabbing another man in an argument had a deadly weapon enhancement dismissed as part of a plea agreement.

Tommy Douglass Tea, 26, of Pocatello, entered a guilty plea to the charge of aggravated assault at a change-of-plea hearing Monday.

RELATED | Pocatello man facing felony for allegedly stabbing another man in the park

Tea was arrested the afternoon of July 18 by officers responding to multiple 911 calls reporting a man being stabbed at Simplot Square.

When they arrived, they found the victim bleeding from a cut to his lower leg that was not life-threatening. The victim, who had applied a homemade tourniquet, was treated and transported to Portneuf Medical Center.

As the victim was being escorted to an ambulance, he identified Tea as his attacker.

Tea told officers that the victim had pulled the knife on him and that he was defending himself. But multiple witnesses at the scene told officers otherwise, saying that after Tea and a woman he was with had been involved in a verbal argument, Tea threw a knife at the other man and struck him in the leg.

With his guilty plea, Tea faces up to 15 years in prison and fines as much as $50,000 for aggravated assault.

He is scheduled for sentencing by 6th District Judge Javier Gabiola on Jan. 27.

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