As one person of a group of five was inside a Florence restaurant Tuesday evening ordering to go food, two of the remaining group in a vehicle got into an altercation that lead to one person being stabbed in the vehicle, police say.
The incident happened sometime between 7:30 and 8 pm at Stefano’s Italian Restaurant on South Irby Street, said Maj. Carlos Raines of the Florence Police Department.
The stabbing was sparked as the four people left in car began arguing with each other, Raines said.
“They have a tendency to pick at each other and at some point it got out of hand,” Raines told News13.
The driver of the vehicle turned around in the car and stabbed a backseat passenger in the chest — twice, Raines said.
Then, the driver and the stabbed passenger got out of the vehicle, with the driver moments later getting back in the vehicle and trying to drive off, Raines said.
An off duty deputy was in the area and noticed what was happening and stopped the driver, Raines said.
Florence Police and EMS were called to the scene.
The stabbed man was taken to a nearby hospital, where he is being admitted for observation overnight, Raines said.
The driver — who allegedly performed the stabbing — was identified as Joshua Ryan, 23, of Effingham.
Ryan is charged with attempted murder.
