Ukiah man suspected in double stabbing, attempted homicide

A 27-year-old Ukiah man remained in custody Tuesday on suspicion of attempted homicide in a New Year’s Eve stabbing of two men, according to Ukiah police.

The victims, who were just ending their shifts at a Standley Street restaurant, were stabbed multiple times during an altercation with suspect Gage Hewett, Ukiah police detective Sgt. Cedric Crook said Tuesday.

The altercation started when one employee took trash from the restaurant to a nearby public dumpster.

Hewett, who police suspect was intoxicated, was in the area and confronted the employee, apparently believing the man was doing something to a neighboring family-owned auto repair business on North State Street, Crook said. When a second employee arrived to pick up the worker, the verbal exchange turned physical, and police say Hewett stabbed the first man. The second man went to his co-worker’s aid and also was stabbed, Crook said.

The victims are 19 and 23.

One was stabbed in the chest and bicep, and the other suffered multiple back wounds and a shoulder wound.

The suspect left, and the two were taken by a friend to Ukiah Valley Medical Center where they were treated and released.

Police were called at ?10:30 p.m. Officers found a fixed-blade knife near the scene, which they suspect was the weapon used.

A brief investigation led officers to Hewett, whom they knew from several prior contacts, and he was arrested about midnight at a home on Cochrane Avenue.

Detectives are seeking witnesses and asked anyone with information to contact police at 707-463-6262.

You can reach Staff Writer Randi Rossmann at 707-521-5412 or randi.rossmann@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter@rossmannreport.