PALM COAST, FL – On Sunday, March 17 just before midnight, the Flagler County Sheriff’s Office responded to a residence in the C-Section of Palm Coast after two men reported a violent assault that occurred earlier at the Circle K gas station on Palm Harbor Parkway.
When deputies arrived, they found a man holding a blood-soaked cloth over his neck. He had sustained multiple lacerations to his neck and back, and a deep puncture wound on his left side. Deputies provided life-saving measures to prevent further blood loss until Flagler County Fire Rescue arrived and trauma alerted him to Halifax Hospital for medical treatment.
The other victim said he had not been stabbed but was struck by the suspect’s fists multiple times. He appeared to have a large contusion on his lower right back and a bruise on his right side.
According to the men, at approximately 10:30 p.m. they had ridden their electric bicycles from a residence to the Circle K gas station where they encountered the suspect sitting at the picnic bench outside. He struck up a conversation with them and, after a few minutes, the topic turned to religion.
The suspect later became upset, and the conversation turned into a heated debate. The men alleged the suspect began hitting one of them after he attempted to deescalate the situation and then stabbed the other. The suspect then fled on foot through a wooded area behind Circle K after the fight. Both victims rode their electric bicycles back to the residence and, after assessing their injuries, called 9-1-1.
The victims described the suspect as a white male, approximately 6’1” in height with a slender build and a large neck tattoo. He had been wearing a green shirt and carrying a black backpack and believed his name was “Hunter” or “Hunt.”
After speaking with investigators, one victim said he was having a hard time breathing and Flagler County Fire Rescue transported him to the hospital for medical treatment.
The wooded area was searched but deputies were unable to locate the suspect that evening. Using investigative tactics and the Real Time Crime Center, detectives with FCSO’s Major Case Unit identified the suspect as Hunter Detherow, age 22, of Palm Coast.
At 12:45 p.m., Monday, March 18, Detherow was arrested at his home on Forsythe Lane on two counts of Aggravated Battery with a Deadly Weapon. He was transported to the Sheriff Perry Hall Inmate Detention Facility where he is being held on $300,000 bond.
“Another outstanding job by our deputies, Major Case detectives and our Real Time Crime Center to quickly solve this case,” said Sheriff Rick Staly. “You don’t solve disagreements by attacking someone. When people talk religion or politics, often someone gets offended, but getting your feelings hurt doesn’t give you the right to physically harm someone else. I’m glad this hot head was quickly apprehended, and he is now at the Green Roof Inn.”
For bodycam of the arrest: https://bit.ly/48WArqd
