The incident occurred at Meadowbrook Apartments.
A Norristown man is accused of stabbing his friend in the neck with a garden tool during an alleged fight involving him and his father at Meadowbrook Apartments on Poplar Street in Hatfield Borough in August.
Steven Vincent De Paul Jr., 23, of 900 block of Hamilton Street, was charged Sept. 16 by Hatfield Police with felony aggravated assault and misdemeanor charges of possessing an instrument of crime, reckless endangerment of another person, simple assault, and disorderly conduct by fighting, according to court documents.
Depaul remains jailed at Montgomery County Correctional Facility on $10,077 cash bail and probation detainer, per court records.
Authorities allege in charging documents that Depaul and the victim drove to Long Beach Island, New Jersey and then to Atlantic City on an overnight trip Aug. 18, 2024, with the victim driving them home the morning of Aug. 19.
Police said once the victim drove Depaul to work in West Chester, he was given permission by Depaul to keep the vehicle until he got off of work. The victim told police he told Depaul he was driving to a relative’s home in Hatfield.
Later in the night, at 9:51 p.m., police allege Depaul and his father arrived at the apartment complex in a white van, then exited the vehicle, with Depaul holding a six-inch stainless steel “Michael Myers-style” knife.
“Where the f--- are my keys?” allegedly yelled Depaul. The victim told police that Depaul’s father approached him and punched him, and the two began fighting, police said. During the fight, the victim realized he had a cut in the area of his left ear, and blood was everywhere, per the affidavit.
The victim walked to the apartment complex laundry room, trailing blood along the way, police said. After seeing the amount of blood, the victim walked back outside in the parking lot, where he took a coffee mug off the ground and hit Depaul’s father with it, police said.
Then, a second fight began, police allege.
Detectives were called to the scene for the report of an aggravated assault, and upon arrival, found Depaul and his father with visible injuries, police said. A large area of blood was in the parking lot, leading up to a building, according to the report.
The victim was taken to Grand View Hospital for a suspected puncture wound to his neck; police said it was discovered to be a puncture wound consistent with being stabbed near his ear with an item that was 2 centimeters in diameter.
Both Depauls denied a knife was used in the fight, police said.
Depaul’s father consented to a search of his 2018 Ford Econoline van, where a stainless steel soil knife with an orange handle was found in a trash can in the van’s rear tool storage area, police said.
The tool had dried red liquid residue on the tip that appeared to be dried blood, authorities allege.
Depaul, police said, admitted to retrieving the knife from a toolbag inside the van during the fight and then swinging at the victim one time with the knife.
After the assault, Depaul said he threw the knife in a trash can inside the van, per the complaint. He described the knife as a gardening knife used for digging, police said.
During a review of a 911 call allegedly made by Depaul for the attack on his father, police said the dispatcher asked him if there were any weapons involved in the incident, and Depaul replied, No.” The caller further admits to the dispatcher that they were “fighting right now” and, at one point, the elder Depaul, police allege, can be heard saying, “I think I broke my hand.”
Police said the 911 recording is consistent with the victim’s version of the incident where two separate fights occurred.
A preliminary hearing is scheduled for Sept. 25 at 11:45 a.m. before Magisterial District Judge Edward Levine.
Depaul was found guilty in February 2024 on a misdemeanor charge of making a statement under penalty from a West Norriton Township arrest, per court documents. He was sentenced to one year probation, according to court records.
All suspects and defendants are innocent until proven guilty. This story was compiled using public court records.
