LAKE COUNTY (WWJ) - A messy love triangle between a woman and two men led to a 31-year-old man being stabbed over the weekend in West Michigan.
Michigan State Police with the Hart Post said they became aware of the incident around 5 p.m. on February 18 when a 911 call came through about an injured man suffering from stab wounds along US-10 highway near Schoenherr Road in Branch Township.
Troopers, with assistance from the Mason County Sheriff's Office, Lake County Sheriff's Office, and the DNR Law Enforcement Division, managed to locate the victim, identified as a 31-year-old resident from Hart.
The man was rushed to a local hospital before being airlifted to Grand Rapids for further care.
He was last listed in stable, but serious condition.
As troopers began investigating, they uncovered the stabbing stemmed from a dispute between a Baldwin woman's current and estranged boyfriend.
Based on their preliminary investigation, state police found a 19-year-old man from the state of Georgia met an 18-year-old woman online and the two arranged for him to come to the woman's home in Baldwin.
The Georgia man stayed with the woman for a week as her boyfriend before the woman ended the relationship and began a separate romantic relationship with the 31-year-old man.
On the 18th, the two men and the woman were at her Baldwin home when the two men began arguing, troopers said. The fight escalated until police allege the 19-year-old man stabbed the victim twice.
"A separate adult at the residence initiated a transport of the uninjured 18-year-old woman and her injured 31-year-old boyfriend to ... a Ludington Hospital," a press released from MSP read. "The adult driver stopped
on US-10 Hwy near Schoenherr Road in Branch Township, Mason County, and dropped off the woman and injured man and abandoned them on the roadside."
Troopers said the driver when traveled back to the home where the stabbing occurred to check on small children that were left in the residence unattended.
When authorities got involved, they tracked the 19-year-old suspect back to the Baldwin home and arrested him.
Troopers said they are still investigating the incident and asked for witnesses that have yet to speak with police to contact the Michigan State Police Hart Post at (231) 873-2171.
