Columbia stabbing started with interrupted theft, documents say

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

A Columbia stabbing victim told police that he interrupted his assailant trying to steal from him before the attack, according to court documents.

Arthur W. Hooks, 70, was arrested Monday after police responded to a stabbing in the 2900 block of Leeway Drive in north Columbia. Prosecutors charged Hooks with first-degree assault, armed criminal action and unlawful use of a weapon.

Hooks was jailed without bond and an initial court appearance was scheduled for Tuesday afternoon.

Police spoke with the victim at Boone Hospital. The man told them a man named "Arthur" stabbed him after he had interrupted the man stealing from a wooden chest, according to a probable cause statement. Hooks stabbed the victim in the arm, and the wound was about 2 inches wide and 1 inch deep, police say.

The man said Hooks chased him and tried to stab him more, the statement says.

A witness allegedly saw Hooks holding a 6 to 8-inch blade. Another witness told police he had heard Hooks tell someone he would stab and murder them.

Documents say that Hooks didn't give a statement but spontaneously uttered that "he hoped the victim would die."

Hooks' landlord, Frontier Property Management LLC, sued Hooks last month to evict him from his Leeway Drive apartment. The lawsuit claims Hooks was using methamphetamine, keeping stolen property in the apartment, storing trash outside the unit, allowing unauthorized people to stay in the apartment and that he had prostitutes at the apartment.

The lawsuit also claims he created bonfires in the apartment building yard.