A Sitka grand jury has indicted a man on charges of assault and tampering with evidence, after he allegedly stabbed another man in the chest.
Giovanni Velez-Velez, age 22, allegedly stabbed 27-year-old Skyler Makua, causing a collapsed lung.
The indictment further alleges that Velez-Velez hid the knife in the grass along the side of a road. Velez-Velez was indicted on one count of assault in the first degree, a class A felony, and one count of tampering with physical evidence, a class C felony.
According to court records, a fight broke out in the 200 block of Katlian Avenue on August 28. The stabbing was reported to the Sitka Police Department shortly before 2 a.m. Officer Eric Eccleston discovered Makua lying in the road and bleeding from a laceration on his chest. Eyewitnesses said the assailant had fled the scene.
Officers made contact with Velez-Velez at the Sitka Sound Seafood bunkhouses. According to court records, he admitted to stabbing Makua and led officers to the location of the knife.
Velez-Velez was arraigned in superior court Tuesday and remains in custody pending $100,000 bail. His next hearing is scheduled for 1:45 p.m. on Monday, September 14th.
