Arrest made in morning stabbing

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November 28, 2009

By Chris Conrad

Mail Tribune

An early morning stabbing Friday in front of a Medford bar left one man hospitalized in fair condition and another in jail on a felony assault charge, police said.

Medford police were called to Rumors Karaoke Lounge on North Riverside Avenue at 2:10 a.m. after a melee involving a small crowd broke out in the parking lot, Medford police Sgt. Kevin Walruff said.

During the brawl, 25-year-old Abraham Rios was stabbed multiple times in the arms and torso.

He left the scene in a car before police arrived, but a patrol officer soon pulled over the car in which he was a passenger. Rios then was taken to Rogue Valley Medical Center, where he remains in fair condition.

The man suspected of stabbing Rios was later identified as 53-year-old Wayne A. Lee.

Lee was charged with first-degree assault and remained lodged in the Jackson County Jail on $1 million bail.

Rios' friend Abel Morales-Martinez, 27, also was charged for his alleged part in the fight. He was arrested on charges of disorderly conduct and three counts of fourth-degree assault. He has since been released from jail.

Officers rounded up several people who had been drinking inside the bar that night and interviewed them at the Medford Police Department headquarters.

"It's hard to get information in situations like that," Walruff said. "You have people who are worked up and had been drinking. That's why we respond with so many officers to these scenes."

Police still are not sure what sparked the fight. A similar brawl in front of Medford's Ramada Inn earlier this month ended in a pair of stabbings in which a 17-year-old suspected gang member was arrested.

"One thing we do know is that (Friday's stabbing) absolutely was not gang-related," Walruff said. "We do know alcohol was a factor in the fight."

The brawl could easily have turned fatal had an officer not pulled over the car containing Rios just after the fight.

"He was hurt badly," Walruff said. "It could have gone a different way had the patrol officer not found him and gotten him the necessary medical treatment."

Anyone with additional information involving the stabbing is asked to call Medford police Detective Kathryn Ivens at 774-2266.

Reach reporter Chris Conrad at 776-4471 or e-mail cconrad@mailtribune.com.

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