photo by: Mugshot courtesy of the Kansas Department of Corrections

Rashidi McClelland is pictured with the Douglas County Judicial and Law Enforcement Center.

A Lawrence man who is alleged to have stabbed a man during an altercation earlier this month has been arrested and charged with battery.

The man, Rashidi Edward McClelland, 47, is charged in Douglas County District Court with one count of felony aggravated battery, according to charging documents. The charge is in connection with an incident on Nov. 4 around 3:15 a.m. at 3250 Michigan Street when McClelland is alleged to have been in an altercation with a 56-year-old man. The incident resulted in the 56-year-old being slashed in the arm with a knife. He was later transported to the hospital for his injury.

Police asked for the public’s help in locating McClelland after the incident. After receiving a tip, investigators located McClelland on Wednesday evening just before 5:30 p.m. at a house in the 3700 block of Westland Place, near Sixth Street and Monterey Way, according to a social media post from the Lawrence Police Department.

Officers began watching the house and spotted McClelland inside and began ordering him out with a loudspeaker. McClelland initially tried to escape from the residence using multiple doors and windows but eventually surrendered peacefully, the post said.

McClelland was arrested on suspicion of attempted aggravated robbery and aggravated battery but the District Attorney’s Office only charged him with battery at this time. The office has filed additional felony charges of one count of unlawful distribution of methamphetamine and interference with law enforcement in connection with an incident on June 9.

McClelland was on parole at the time of his arrest on Wednesday. He was convicted in Douglas County in 2022 for attempted aggravated battery with a deadly weapon and sentenced to two years in prison, according to court records. The court had granted him leniency when it sentenced him, significantly reducing his sentence from a minimum 12-year sentence. McClelland has several other felony convictions dating back to 1996 that increased his potential sentence in accordance with state law, according to court records.

McClelland was paroled in August 2023, after serving a little more than a year in jail. However, after being paroled, he then was in and out of custody of the Kansas Department of Corrections through September 2024 for various parole violations.

McClelland is being held at the Douglas County Jail on a $75,000 cash or surety bond and is next scheduled to appear in court on Dec. 16 for a status conference.