Porterville police make separate stabbing arrests

PORTERVILLE — Porterville police responded to two unrelated stabbings Tuesday that occurred within hours of each other, leading to the arrest of two people but no fatalities, officials said.

Police were called at 10 a.m. to the 1700 block of West Kanai Avenue for a domestic disturbance. They found a 28-year-old man lying in the road with multiple stab wounds to his stomach. His name was not released by authorities. Nearby they found Brittany Hoffman, 24, suffering from a head injury.

The two were taken to separate hospitals. Police investigators later determined that the two had been drinking and an argument broke out between them. The man allegedly hit Hoffman in the head with a metal pot. Hoffman then allegedly stabbed the man three times with a kitchen knife.

Hoffman was arrested on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon and remains in jail in lieu of $30,000 bail.

Four hours later, police were called out to the 100 block of North E Street on a report of a stabbing victim seen in the roadway.

The responding police officer found a 22-year-old man lying in the road, suffering from multiple stab wounds to the stomach. The victim told the police his assailant was his mother’s 29-year-old boyfriend, Silvester Dimas.

Police learned that Dimas was in an argument with the victim’s mother, who was not identified, when the victim attempted to intervene. Dimas allegedly used a large pocket knife to lunge at the victim, stabbing him in the stomach.

Officials said they have not found the knife used in the stabbing. Dimas was arrested on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon.