A man accused of slicing another man’s hand with a knife at the Lewis County Gospel Mission in Chehalis on Thursday has been charged with second-degree assault.
Officers with the Chehalis Police Department responded to the Gospel Mission shortly before 2:30 p.m. on April 3 after a man called 911 three times to report that someone had attacked him with a knife, according to Lewis County Superior Court documents and Lewis County Jail records.
Responding officers confirmed that “one of (the victim’s) fingers had been sliced with the skin hanging off of it” and he had “a deep cut near the webbing of his right hand, which appeared to be a defensive wound,” according to court documents.
The victim identified the attacker as Rodney Kibizoff, 61, of Centralia, and reported that “the assault was unprovoked.”
The victim was transported to the hospital for medical treatment.
Kibizoff was located nearby and was detained, according to court documents. He reportedly had a 3-inch folding knife in his front pocket at the time of his arrest.
“Kibizoff was questioned and decided not to make a statement,” according to court documents.
He was booked into the Lewis County Jail at 2:30 p.m. on April 3, according to jail records.
“Their accusation is not the way it happened, ma’am,” Kibizoff told Lewis County Superior Court Judge Joely Yeager during his preliminary hearing on Friday before his defense attorney, Rachael Tiller, advised him not to discuss the facts of the case.
“Mr. Kibizoff I know is quite frustrated with the charging,” Tiller said Friday, telling the court that Kibizoff told her the alleged victim attacked him a month prior.
“Mr. Kibizoff is the one who is afraid for his safety,” Tiller said.
Bail is set at $25,000. Arraignment is scheduled for Thursday, April 10.
The Lewis County Gospel Mission was the site of an unrelated assault involving a knife in January.
In that case, Roy Joseph Fisher, 51, of La Center, was arrested and charged for allegedly assaulting staff and threatening to kill multiple people while he was wielding a knife on Jan. 2.
Fisher pleaded guilty to one count each of second- and fourth-degree assault on Jan. 31 and was sentenced to four months in jail with credit for 29 days served.
He was not in custody at the Lewis County Jail as of Friday afternoon, according to jail records.
