Two men stabbed in altercation overnight in Ann Arbor
Debris from the previous night's block party litters Greenwood Avenue in Ann Arbor late Saturday morning.
Angela J. Cesere | AnnArbor.com
Detective Lt. Mark St. Amour said both victims were taken to University of Michigan Hospitals, where one of them was admitted and the other one released after treatment. He said both victims sustained severe lacerations on their neck and arms from some type of unknown sharp object.
St. Amour said both victims are 20 years old, though he did not believe they are students. Their names were not being released.
The two men were assaulted after they got into an altercation with another group of men about 1:30 a.m. in the 900 block of Greenwood Avenue, just east of Packard, St. Amour said. An annual block party was going on at the time, although police are unsure how many people were there, St. Amour said, noting that it was raining at the time of the assault.
St. Amour said anybody with information is asked to call the police tipline at (734) 794-6939 or email TIPS@a2gov.org.
Freelance reporter Lisa Carolin contributed to this report.
Comments
trs80
Mon, Apr 25, 2011 : 6:53 p.m.
Glad the little kiddies are going home for summer yet again. Now there will be peace and quiet.
DDOT1962
Tue, Apr 26, 2011 : 12:39 a.m.
I really love Ann Arbor May-August. It's a city in repose at that time. ;-)
JB
Mon, Apr 25, 2011 : 3:21 p.m.
I don't understand how/why this is automatically equated to Ypsi? As far as we know (right now) neither the victims nor the criminals were from Ypsi. Newsflash Ann Arbor, you share a border with Ypsi--people from both towns go back and forth all the time! The comments on here often reflect an assumption that a ZIP code or an address automatically generates great schools, and a crime-free life. AnnArbor.com does much to protect you from what happens in Ann Arbor--maybe its time everyone realized that, as a community, we have to help ourselves?
Ricebrnr
Mon, Apr 25, 2011 : 2:45 a.m.
So it's law enforcement's fault for not babysitting these students... Way to take responsibility there...
Ben Alfaro
Mon, Apr 25, 2011 : 11:29 p.m.
I hear you. I still disagree though. Even if I don't call the police myself, they knew about the event and chose to not treat it as a potentially violent space, as it has always been (for at least the last five years). My not calling them has less to do with my responsibility than their preparation and knowledge of their own city. At least that's where I stand to that end. More specifically, I'm not a resident of that neighborhood, nor do I live in Ann Arbor anymore. I'm in Detroit, going to school at Wayne State, and came back to attend this event - with the broad assumption that I needed backup plans for the evening, because this event is always overrun with cops. In general, I don't consider block parties or large social events through the University "responsible" spaces. You're approaching this with a legitimate critique, but also a somewhat unfounded one, given those involved. But I do appreciate the sentiment.
Ricebrnr
Mon, Apr 25, 2011 : 5:40 p.m.
NO I'm not being facetious or playing Devil's Advocate. I think you are missing my point and overestimating your neighborhood's importance in the grand scheme of things. I asked if YOU or anyone contacted the police after the altercations. I will add to that, did YOU or anyone "responsible" for promoting this annual event contact the city or police PRIOR to your event to coordinate services with them? Since this is an annual event and those living there seem to acknowledge that there have been problems in the past, it would seem to me that the responsibility to ensure the police presence I continue to see call for was arranged for. Again, who's fault is it the police wasn't there? I submit one should stop looking at everyone and their mother rather than the party arrangers and goers...
Ben Alfaro
Mon, Apr 25, 2011 : 2:47 p.m.
@Awakened I understand the severity of the police force being cut, but I still believe that the fact there were zero officers in any capacity visible from the Greenwood block party is unacceptable. To be clear, I'm not complaining to that end - I was aghast at the idea that those who were injured were being irresponsible and needed babysitters. I think that overlooks the entirety of the situation and polarizes the argument into one of fiscal ability to allocate officers to areas of the city. That's not my intention with this. I just wanted to voice the observation that having no police even in remote contact with the event and the incident of two men being stabbed in the throat, nearly killing them, cannot be dissociated.
Awakened
Mon, Apr 25, 2011 : 11:52 a.m.
Ben, the Ann Arbor police department has been cut almost in half over the last few years. DPS will not take action off campus. Creating an environment conducive to misbehavior, participating, and then complaining that someone else should have done something to stop you, is illogical.
Ben Alfaro
Mon, Apr 25, 2011 : 10:43 a.m.
I can't tell if you're playing devils advocate or actually are misconstruing the point this much. Police are trained and prepared to know what environments breed crime, like a mob of 500 drunk young people. I didn't call the police because none of the fights were ones I was engaged in nor was anyone critically hurt. Also because I anticipated the party would be shut down in 20 minutes as it has for the last few years. I do feel you're missing the point of my argument though, and the most crucial bit of it being that those that were assaulted will recover.
Ricebrnr
Mon, Apr 25, 2011 : 7:17 a.m.
Right and after 8 or 9 fist fights, dd anyone call the police for any of them? Did YOU? Because law enforcement is omnipotent and should just know they're needed...
Ben Alfaro
Mon, Apr 25, 2011 : 2:56 a.m.
The Greenwood block party is hardly students. It's hundreds of people from ages 16-30. Secondly, if the police know about that kind of activity, at the very least, they could have a presence there. Third, if the city didn't cut the police force, maybe they could've contributed more. After maybe eight or nine fist fights I saw that night (and no cops in sight) I don't think it's a question of student responsibility. I think it's reflective of how the police can react to these kinds of events.
Ben Alfaro
Mon, Apr 25, 2011 : 2:40 a.m.
Beyond what I said in the previous comment, this idea that Ann Arbor is pristine and free from gang activity is foolish. Calling it a product of Ypsilanti residents moving in is a downright unintelligent thing to say. There has always, in the twenty years I lived in the city, been a culture of violence that gets tabled by city government, and ignored in the public discussion at the sake of saving this image of purity the city would like to extend. In truth, the way our city operates necessitates the violent crime that happens here. When you allow entities like the university and corporate business to function with literally no limitation across every inch of the city, you are in effect allowing the space to be manipulated and controlled by an outside entity that is not an elected official. This is relative, considering the Governor's allegiance to denying social service, educational support, and labor rights, but it is something deeply engrained in the fabric of the city. Our willingness to be blind to the social issues that face Ann Arborites on a regular basis (which includes non-students and citizens of color, something that it seems the community at-large neglects on a near constant basis) only allow these circumstances to endure. In truth, I didn't intend to write this much. Yet the comments on here (not all, but a few) really give evidence to why Ann Arbor IS NOT the place it would like to believe it is. What if I told you everyone involved in this incident was affluent and white? How would that effect this idea of moving back to Dexter or Chelsea to save the sanctity of your safety? Check yourselves, ourselves, as a community. Try to understand your neighbors before you resort to defense mechanisms that blatantly expose your bias. As for those involved in the stabbing, they will recover fully. Their support systems are deep and committed to helping. Thankfully, the hospital did an excellent job this weekend. Hopefully all can learn from this.
Kai Petainen
Wed, Apr 27, 2011 : 3:14 a.m.
it's not rambling. it's a well thought out opinion. why do people think that if someone writes more than 1 paragraph then it is rambling?
DDOT1962
Tue, Apr 26, 2011 : 12:34 a.m.
Wow! I hope you write more coherently for your classes. Your letter is the definition of rambling...
Ben Alfaro
Mon, Apr 25, 2011 : 2:27 a.m.
First of all, these are my closest friends that were involved in this incident, so I will speak to that later. That being said, as a student of society, and the world at-large, I must say, the comments on this article speak to the disenfranchisement of values Ann Arbor has. If you disagree, a) you're not looking close enough (think about where our locally unwanted land uses, like the city dump, are located and who lives in direct contact of it, for example), and b) you're pursuing a language of naivete that only progresses the social equity of the city backward. These comments are stuffed with racist code language, dismissal of what the article is about, who was involved, or how it was handled (all of which I will address), and instead, compounds a dialect of outright despicable nature that makes us - as a community - look childish. As for the incident, this event happened at the tail-end of an annual block party that is notorious for fights. Given the rain, I understand the lack of police presence, but (even as a college student myself) it reflects on what our municipal responsibility of having a prepared and numerically adequate police force on scene results in. This event is huge. Open facebook invitations draw attendees from across the state, and rain won't stop folks in their twenties from partying. The police knew that and still failed to secure the area, until after a string of fist fights broke out throughout the evening and eventually, two kids got hospitalized. Secondly, this is not indicative of an increasing violence in Ann Arbor. Violent crime - far more in the student body than in the "low income housing" [code language] - is a product of "student ghettos" [code language] wherein this can happen. What's important is to ask how those that were effected will recover, how we as a community can learn from this, and pressure on the investigators to solve this.
Ben Alfaro
Mon, Apr 25, 2011 : 11:32 p.m.
The concept of "code language" has more to do with the frequent connotation of violence to Ypsilanti residents - a black city. I just wanted to point out the irony of the city's residents (by way of some of the comments on here), and dispel this long-lived notion that Ann Arbor is a paragon society, when in fact, it's often just blind - not colorblind.
anti-thug
Mon, Apr 25, 2011 : 6:14 p.m.
code language? it a know fact that Ann Arbor has low income(white majority)housing like miller manor who also had major problems like this one in the past.Yes white people in low income housing cause majority of the problems!
anti-thug
Mon, Apr 25, 2011 : 6:09 p.m.
shouldn't
anti-thug
Mon, Apr 25, 2011 : 6:08 p.m.
Ann Arbor you should hang out with cut-throats ! Rip the victims who passed this morning
Wolf's Bane
Sun, Apr 24, 2011 : 10:54 p.m.
Interesting quote "...did not believe they are students." So, he is assuming that they are not? How about more information on the gang fight? Did we have University students in the midst or no?
Ben Alfaro
Mon, Apr 25, 2011 : 2:59 a.m.
Funny you should mention. Prior to this incident, there was a relatively large incident between two groups of red-flagged and blue-flagged folk. Those involved are students, just not at Michigan. Who knows if those that committed the crime were U-M affiliated or not.
anti-thug
Sun, Apr 24, 2011 : 11:48 p.m.
well , I see a smashed blue and red cup ? Blood and crips? not in Ann Arbor ah! we always preferred gangs of frat boys! lol
Tru2Blu76
Sun, Apr 24, 2011 : 8:54 p.m.
Point of order question: in this particular case, two 20 year-olds were slashed at a block party in a U of M student housing area. At that kind of party: what is the prime attraction? Why - I do believe it's the availability of alcoholic beverages (without the need to prove one's age qualifications). Question #2: were the victims' sobriety tested??? If not - why not??? Probability: underage non-residents appeared at a "fringe of the law" party held by U of M students. Probability: this party was the type known as "a kegger." Probability: as outsiders, they were targeted by another group of men (equally irresponsible men, no doubt). A fight ensued. Non-Probability: This was a surprising thing to have happen. ;-) Look at the dockets of Washtenaw courts: literally thousands of cases per year involving college student who were cited for underage drinking, recreational drug use and... brawling. This incident has nothing to do with Ann Arbor's "civic"crime rate - it's an artifact result of having 10,000 or so underage college students who are mostly unmonitored and left to their own... (not excellent) judgements.
AA
Sun, Apr 24, 2011 : 2:18 p.m.
A glimpse of your future Ann Arbor.
anti-thug
Sun, Apr 24, 2011 : 2:42 p.m.
What are you talking about? nothing was worst then that Ann Street slum in the 70's
RJA
Sun, Apr 24, 2011 : 3:56 a.m.
Seems to me there is always more crime when police officers are laid off. The less officers in any area make criminals think, OK that is cool and we are safe. Keep them on...make living safer for all citizens.
anti-thug
Sun, Apr 24, 2011 : 2:43 p.m.
criminals will test the low Anyhow!
racerx
Sun, Apr 24, 2011 : 12:39 a.m.
I'll attempt to make my point again, since the original was removed. There seems to be a disparity between who can party and caused mayhem, and who can not in the city. This annual party on Greenwood has had various issues in relationship to crime, but these parties continue. Both the Fifth Quarter and the former Studio 4 have had issues too. The only difference between the two are who the partygoers are. One, upper middle class UM students. The other largely minority. Draw your own conclusions.
Awakened
Mon, Apr 25, 2011 : 11:45 a.m.
The City and the UofM deny (and hide) the problems in the student ghetto because if parents become concerned they will send their kids elsewhere.
anti-thug
Sun, Apr 24, 2011 : 1:34 a.m.
yea the city denys the problems of the UM HOOD or student ghetto because that way they don't have fix it.
Domey
Sun, Apr 24, 2011 : 12:02 a.m.
Too much partying does not lead to crime. Too little respect for others does!
anti-thug
Sun, Apr 24, 2011 : 1:36 a.m.
all times of people from different places come to Um and bring the vales with them.
eliza
Sat, Apr 23, 2011 : 11:58 p.m.
I didn't realize that people could be so close minded! Especially for Ann Arbor residents, who arrogantly pride themselves on their ability to accept anyone and anything, be it the homeless or a confused traveler. Half of the people who posted those comments ought to be ashamed of themselves. Just because two kids were stabbed on U of M's campus doesn't mean that Ann Arbor is unsafe, or that we need more police officers on the streets. Crime has been decreasing in Ann Arbor, and studies have shown that regardless of the police presence, crime is still going to happen, and the rates aren't going to change just simply based on the fact that you can see a cop driving down the road. What is necessary to decrease the crime that you all are so afraid is going to infect your perfect suburban neighborhoods is more crime prevention programs, more ways to keep kids occupied and in school, and less hatred, which, despite your intentions, you have been spewing from the moment you decided that low income housing is only for "low" life people.
Ben Alfaro
Mon, Apr 25, 2011 : 3:02 a.m.
@anti-thug Packard and Greenwood is not a "bad area" - it's next to Burns Park, which is about as bougie as you can get.
anti-thug
Sun, Apr 24, 2011 : 12:11 a.m.
Crime in Ann Arbor want up last year and a little down this year.Still I'm sure the city could lie just a little about numbers of crime for that best places list.Not saying it ann arbors a bad city,all I'm saying is that we need be realist and realize that we still live in the real world with uncertain areas and crime trends going up and down. Maybe crime is going down in Ann Arbor but really,how low can it get? <a href="http://www.neighborhoodscout.com/mi/ann-arbor/crime/" rel='nofollow'>http://www.neighborhoodscout.com/mi/ann-arbor/crime/</a>
anti-thug
Sun, Apr 24, 2011 : 12:02 a.m.
the area were it happened is unsafe this isnt the first time Ann Arbor has had a new bad areas in the past! dont be in denial even nice city can have a few bad areas
anti-thug
Sat, Apr 23, 2011 : 11:48 p.m.
this was always a Raught for some unknown reason !
anti-thug
Sat, Apr 23, 2011 : 11:49 p.m.
I mean Raught area
Ralph
Sat, Apr 23, 2011 : 11:37 p.m.
Ann Arbor - becoming what it fears most!
anti-thug
Sat, Apr 23, 2011 : 11:08 p.m.
someone furm of gang bagging maybe? frat boy gang? or Do they have "real gang" in the 'student ghetto" lol by gang I mean a group activity
anti-thug
Sat, Apr 23, 2011 : 6:26 p.m.
This happened very close to A street named Brook-wood. for some reason the name rings a ball. was their a murder in the area about 5 or 10 years back? Well everybody, who has lived in the Ann Arbor area since the 80's knows that if a street ends with Wood they always have trouble!
Mike
Sat, Apr 23, 2011 : 9:07 p.m.
It happens wherever you have drunk college students no matter what the street name is. And they come from all socio-economic backgrounds. Some of the well to do studnets are the worst and they have better lawyers too.
Joslyn
Sat, Apr 23, 2011 : 6:01 p.m.
I love it! This just shows another example of why laying off another 25 AAPD officers is just a BADDDD idea. Yet our wonderfull city council, mayor, and Tom Crawford are all for it. HMMMMMMMMmmmmmmmmmmm mismanagement at its finest! I LOVE IT!
Kai Petainen
Sat, Apr 23, 2011 : 4:56 p.m.
Time of posting on Ann Arbor.com: 9:21 am Time of email alerting folks: 12:20 pm Email comes 3 hours after Ann Arbor.com Why the delay? Did DPS keep quiet until it hit the news?
Kai Petainen
Sat, Apr 23, 2011 : 7:11 p.m.
I actually don't dislike them. They're rather nice people. But, I think they could improve on some stuff and work closer with the AAPD.
DBlaine
Sat, Apr 23, 2011 : 7 p.m.
Dude, I know you dislike UM DPS for some reason, but, uh, how can they keep quiet about something they didn't handle? What part about this was an AAPD matter don't you understand! I got the UM DPS email, but really, it's not like it matters when it comes. Whether you get the email now or tomorrow, your safety isn't affected.
Really
Sat, Apr 23, 2011 : 3:13 p.m.
20 yr olds non students annual block party---not at a club/bar zoom in on the map---in a neighborhood close to campus does not look like LOW income housing--- may have some LOW lifes living there--maybe some LOW lifes partying there---or maybe some RICH kids partying there---or maybe some Dexter-ites partying there--or maybe some Chelsea--ites partying there. True message: too much partying can lead to crime. . . .hmmmm
DDOT1962
Sat, Apr 23, 2011 : 3 p.m.
Sounds like another tiff between the Jets and the Sharks...
Wolf's Bane
Sun, Apr 24, 2011 : 10:52 p.m.
I doubt any of these guys can sing though. :)
Badm
Sat, Apr 23, 2011 : 2:41 p.m.
WOW, Ann Arbor will be a whole lot safer once people move back to Dexter & Chelsea and maybe even Ypsilanti Ann Arbor will have nicer people and taxes are lower every where except Dexter & Chelsea
Ben Alfaro
Mon, Apr 25, 2011 : 3:04 a.m.
No one wants to live in Dexter or Chelsea. There's a drastically smaller culture of art, history, industry, entertainment, and jobs. But nice try.
anti-thug
Sat, Apr 23, 2011 : 2:39 p.m.
Was this related to LOW income house-sing residents or low life house-sing ? I'm not even joke Ann Arbor low income housing becoming crime infested, That is why were seeing A slight rise in crime IN Ann Arbor! WE now have neglected housing were they just movie in ANY one from Ypsilanti since nobody want stay in ypsi projects.
Aces Full
Sat, Apr 23, 2011 : 2:27 p.m.
But I thought the Fifth Quarter closed?
Major
Sat, Apr 23, 2011 : 2:20 p.m.
AA's crime is more like Ypsi every day. Glad I just moved the heck out! Back to the Dexter Chelsea area, back to how Ann Arbor used to be, back to low tax, low crime, low traffic, fresh air, nice people....good luck Ann Arborites your going to need it!
aawolve
Mon, Apr 25, 2011 : 3:44 p.m.
Ann Arbor used to have absolutely nothing to do?
Ben Alfaro
Mon, Apr 25, 2011 : 3:05 a.m.
How old are you? That's literally the most racist thing I've heard all day. Learn how to articulate an argument and specify when exactly you're referring to. Not since they build Huron have those conditions been in effect.
Ricebrnr
Sat, Apr 23, 2011 : 1:46 p.m.
Oh my another stabbing near campus!!! Do we have a serial stabber on the loose??