Bend transient arrested in stabbing, assault

Two Bend men were injured, one in a stabbing, and a transient was arrested Tuesday night after a Bend couple invited the homeless man into their apartment and offered him some food, but he refused to leave, police said.

Police responded around 6:20 p.m. to a report of an assault with a possible stabbing victim down in a parking lot at 1978 NE Lotus Drive, said Lt. Brian Kindel.

Officers found John Mietkiewicz, 44, in the parking lot with a head injury, Kindel said. Bend Fire medics arrived to treat and take Mietkiewicz to St. Charles Medical Center-Bend, where a nursing supervisor said he was treated and released.

Kindel said it was later determined Mietkiewicz was not stabbed but injured when he was shoved to the ground and struck the back of his head on the asphalt.

Witnesses said Mietkiewicz was assaulted by a transient later identified as John Charles Peck, 53, Kindel said.

The witnesses told police a second man, Abraham Smith, 27, stepped in to try to stop the assault on Mietkiewicz. Smith was stabbed, allegedly by Peck, and suffered “a significant gash to his chest,” from his chest to his armpit, Kindel said. The St. Charles nursing supervisor said he, too, was treated and released.

Peck left the scene on foot, Kindel said, but another witness followed Peck south on Purcell Boulevard, Kindel said.

The transient tried to hide in another apartment complex, but with the help of the witness, police were able to find and arrest him, Kindel said.

Peck, who was unhurt, was booked into the Deschutes County Jail on a first-degree assault charge involving Smith and a misdemeanor fourth-degree assault charge involving Mietkiewicz, Kindel said.

Kindel said an investigation found that Mietkiewicz and his wife provided some food for Peck. After inviting him into their apartment, Peck asked to spend the night, but the couple refused because he had two dogs with him, Kindel said.

Peck reportedly became belligerent and was asked to leave, Kindel said. Peck then reportedly became confrontational with Mietkiewicz’s wife, and Mietkiewicz stepped in to intervene, at which point Peck allegedly knocked him to the ground.