At about 12:45 a.m. this morning officers responded to a call of a man bleeding in Williams Park, 350 2nd Avenue North.
They arrived and found Arnold Perry, 52, on the SW corner of 2nd Avenue North and 3rd Street suffering from a stab wound to the torso. He was transported to Bayfront Hospital as a trauma alert and later taken to surgery, but his wound is no longer considered to be life threatening.
Officers spoke with Willie Arline, 60, along with several witnesses in the park. Arline said that he was asleep on a park bench when he awoke to find Perry going through his pockets. Arline told Perry to get away from him and pushed him backwards.
Perry then punched Arline, knocking him the ground and continued to assault him until, in self-defense, Arline produced a knife and stabbed Perry in the torso.
This information was corroborated by the witnesses at the scene.
Detectives say that Perry will be charged with attempt strong armed robbery when he recovers from his wound.