A man suffered stab wounds from a machete Friday evening, and others sustained injuries during a fight in Exposition Park, police said.
A couple were walking along Adams Boulevard about 8:40 p.m. when the boyfriend kicked a bottle, shattering it, said Officer David Cuellar, a spokesman for the Los Angeles Police Department.
Two nearby men believed the boyfriend had thrown the bottle at them, Cuellar said. An argument started, and the couple went to their apartment and returned with several relatives to confront the two men.
A “big ole fight” broke out, Cuellar said.
One of the men who believed the boyfriend had tossed the bottle pulled out a machete and stabbed a relative of the couple. Paramedics took the victim to a hospital, where he remained in stable condition Sunday, Cuellar said.
Two others received treatment for cuts and bruises.
“I wouldn’t call this a mass stabbing,” Cuellar said, pushing back on earlier media reports of the incident that said “at least” five people were seriously hurt.
Cuellar identified the man who allegedly wielded the machete as Cornell Richardson, 32. Police jailed him on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon. The LAPD did not arrest anyone else, Cuellar said, and no one involved in the incident was affiliated with nearby USC.
Booking records show Los Angeles County jail officials released Richardson on June 16, where he’d been held on misdemeanor charges of carrying a knife in public and “exhibiting a deadly weapon.” Court records show a conviction on the latter charge in January.
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