photo by: Kansas Department of Corrections

Joseph Leonard Klebenstein

An unhoused man has been charged after a woman reported that he stabbed her in the leg during an argument at a Lawrence campsite on Wednesday night.

The man, Joseph Leonard Klebenstein, 32, is charged in Douglas County District Court with one felony count of aggravated battery, one felony count of possession of methamphetamine and one misdemeanor count of possession of drug paraphernalia, according to charging documents. The jail booking log lists Klebenstein as a homeless man from Topeka.

Officers were called to the 800 block of Pennsylvania Street just before midnight on Wednesday where a woman reported that she had been stabbed, according to a post from the Lawrence Police Department on social media.

The woman told police she was at a campsite in the area with friends when an argument broke out and Klebenstein pulled out a knife and slashed the woman in the thigh, the post said. The woman was taken to an area hospital and is expected to recover.

After an investigation, Klebenstein was located by police at Ninth and New Hampshire streets and was taken into custody just before 1 a.m. Thursday, according to the post. He is currently being held without bond.

Klebenstein has previous convictions in Douglas County from 2012 for two counts of felony burglary and two counts of misdemeanor theft. He was also convicted in Johnson County in 2019 for felony criminal threat.