DELTONA -- A Deltona man was rushed to the hospital after being stabbed in the chest and abdomen early Sunday morning when a domestic argument escalated into a physical fight, the Volusia County Sheriff's Office reported.
Joshua Hinkley underwent surgery at Halifax Health Medical Center in Daytona Beach for his stab wounds, which were not life threatening, Sheriff's spokesman Gary Davidson said.
In addition to the stabbing victim, a woman was hit, dragged and cut with a knife by Tomas Torres. EVAC ambulance paramedics treated the woman's injuries on scene. Torres was charged with aggravated battery with a deadly weapon for the attack on the woman, and additional
charges related to Hinkley's stabbing are pending the results of further investigation.
The Volusia County Sheriff's Office responded to 2458 Barbarossa Ave., at about 2:11 a.m. in response to a report of a fight and stabbing. However, before deputies got on scene, Hinkley, the woman victim and another female witness had already left in a limousine they had rented earlier. The three were on a cell phone with Sheriff's Office dispatchers, though, who directed the three to a nearby fire
station. Hinkley was then transported from there to the hospital via ambulance, Davidson said.
Deputies learned that all four people involved had been out earlier celebrating the woman victim's birthday. After the celebration, Torres and the woman victim, who is 8-weeks pregnant, were then dropped off by the limousine at the Barbarossa Avenue address while Hinkley and his girlfriend, Leslie Porter, continued on in the limousine to their home.
Once Torres and the woman got into the house a fight erupted that quickly turned violent. The 23-year-old punched the woman in the face
and dragged her outside by her ankles, Davidson said, adding the woman was able to run back inside and lock herself in a bathroom and use her phone to call Porter. Porter and Hinkley then had their driver return them to the Barbarossa address. When Porter confronted Torres about the fight, Torres punched the 37-year-old woman in the face, Davidson said.
Hinkley saw this and so he entered the house and confronted Torres. That's when Torres armed himself with a kitchen knife. Porter and the woman victim told deputies that Torres first cut the pregnant woman's arm, and then he turned to Hinkley and stabbed him in the chest and abdomen, Davidson said. Hinkley then fled the house and collapsed next to the limousine. The pregnant woman and Porter got 29-year-old Hinkley into the vehicle and they sped away to get help.
Torres denied stabbing Hinkley and said that the other three had attacked him.Torres was arrested on scene and transported to the Volusia County Branch Jail in Daytona Beach where he was booked in without bond, Davidson said.