Scuffle with knife leads to arrest

A man found sleeping in a private driveway became agitated Sunday night when he was told to leave, according to a Lawrence Police report.

Police were called about 8 p.m. Sunday to a house in the 300 block of California Street, where the 30-year-old man who lived there was bleeding from a cut to his arm.

The resident said a tussle broke out after he awakened the sleeping man and told him to leave, police said. The suspect allegedly cut the victim with a small knife.

The suspect, Bryan A. Norwood, 22, 1025 N.Y., was charged Monday in Douglas County District Court with aggravated battery. He was being held in the Douglas County Jail on $2,000 bond.

Norwood is to return to court at 2 p.m. Aug. 20 for the setting of a preliminary hearing.

Allegedly firing gun lands suspect in jail

A Lawrence man is in the Douglas County Jail after being arrested Saturday for firing a gun in what police describe as a domestic dispute.

Eugene R. Seitz, 42, 806 Kasold Drive, was charged Monday in Douglas County District Court with striking a man in the head with a gun and then firing a gunshot into the ground.

The incident occurred shortly before 1 a.m. outside Seitz’s residence, said Lawrence Police spokesman Sgt. Mike Pattrick.

A 36-year-old man, a 28-year-old woman and a 5-year-old girl had arrived for a visit and were in a car, Pattrick said. After approaching the car, Seitz reportedly struck the man in the car twice in the head with the gun, Pattrick said. He then fired at the ground.

The victims left and later called police. When officers went to Seitz’s house to arrest him, they confiscated a .25-caliber handgun, Pattrick said. Also allegedly found in Seitz’s possession were marijuana.

Seitz was being held on $7,000 bond for aggravated battery, two counts of aggravated assault and other charges.

Seitz is to appear in court at 2 p.m. Wednesday when a preliminary hearing will be set.

Police arrest suspect in Saturday stabbing

A Topeka man was stabbed in the chest early Saturday during a fight at a Lawrence apartment.

The 28-year-old victim was helping someone remove a Lawrence man who had fallen asleep on a couch in an apartment in the 2300 block of Ridge Court, according to a police report.

The sleeping man woke up and began fighting, pulling a knife and stabbing the victim, Police spokesman Sgt. Mike Pattrick said.

Police were called and the suspect was arrested by officers who found him walking along a street a short distance away, Pattrick said.

The victim suffered a punctured lung, according to information given during a court hearing Monday. He was taken by ambulance to Lawrence Memorial Hospital. He was released Monday, a hospital spokesman said.

Willie Richardson, 23, 2603 Ridge Court, was charged Monday in Douglas County District Court with aggravated battery. He was being held in the Douglas County Jail on $10,000 bond. He is to appear in court again at 2 p.m. Wednesday so a preliminary hearing can be scheduled.

Trial delayed in kidnapping case

The trial scheduled for Monday in the case of a bounty hunter charged with kidnapping has been delayed.

Judge Michael Malone set a new trial date of Sept. 16 for Timothy J. James, 40, Lawrence.

The Douglas County District Attorney’s Office is continuing to negotiate a plea agreement with Michael Hunter, 34, Kansas City, Mo., a second suspect in the case.

Both James and Hunter are charged with two counts of kidnapping, one count each of aggravated burglary, conspiracy to commit burglary, conspiracy to commit kidnapping and impersonation of a police officer.

The two were among four men who allegedly forced their way into an East Lawrence residence the night of Jan. 15, 2001. During a preliminary hearing in June, a man who was at the house said the intruders led him to believe they were law enforcement officers. They forced him go with them to Kansas City, Kan., to find someone by promising him a nonexistent $1,000 reward.

James is already serving a state prison term of 21 years for convictions last year in Jefferson County.