Image: Looking out to the street from Santa Fe. Credit: Google.
Police arrested an American resident, JBL, 52, after allegedly stabbing an Australian man, SWM, 39, in front of Santa Fe Bar & Grill on Jalan Dyana Pura, Seminyak on Friday afternoon.
The Australian was rushed to Sanglah Hospital for treatment after being stabbed with a knife in the left side of his stomach. The victim is still being treated and isn’t allowed to leave the hospital.
A witness said that the incident began when the Australian man began causing trouble while apparently drunk outside Santa Fe Bar & Grill at around 3.30pm. He screamed at and taunted several people. There were many foreign tourists passing through the area at that time, and according to an article in beritabali.com, were frightened with the victim’s behavior.
The suspect was one of the tourists passing by the area while SWM was taunting passersby and people in the bar. According to police, the drunk man taunted the suspect, who at first let it go, as he had an injured hand and he saw that the victim was drunk. But the suspect couldn’t control his anger after the victim hit him in the face.
“He was furious,” the witness said. Then the suspect attacked the victim and stabbed him with his pocket knife and the drunk man fell down covered in blood.
Police quickly arrived at the scene, led by First Inspector Budi Artama. They brought the Australian man to Sanglah Hospital and arrested the American man at the scene. The Head of Kuta Polsek Criminal Investigation Unit, First Inspector Putu Ika Prabawa, confirmed the incident to the journalists on Sunday. Police said that more information about the incident will be released soon.
