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Deputies: Stabbing Suspect Bit Tot
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Published: May 2, 2008
NEW PORT RICHEY - A 20-year-old accused of stabbing another man in February now faces a charge of child abuse in an unrelated incident last month.
Dustin Edward Bell, 20, was arrested by Pasco County deputies Wednesday. Investigators say Bell bit an 11-month-old toddler on the right thigh, leaving a bruise, on April 13.
Four days later, according to a complaint affidavit, the baby was taken to Community Hospital, where medical staff found that the youngster had suffered broken bones and a large bruise on his forehead.
Bell, of 9105 Paran St., told detectives he bit the child but it was "a play bite," authorities said. He denied causing any of the other injuries.
"He was fine when he left the house to go to his grandmother's," Bell is said to have told detectives.
Bell was being held Thursday at Land O' Lakes Jail, with bail set at $5,000.
Also, Coast to Coast Bail Bond revoked his bond of $10,000 from the previous aggravated battery charge. In that case, Bell is accused of stabbing a man in the stomach during an argument.
When deputies arrived at 11671 Key Lime Drive in Moon Lake after 3 a.m. Feb. 20, they found a knife with a 7-inch blade on a bathroom sink, they said. It appeared to have been cleaned with soap and water.
By then, Andrew Scott Martinez, 22, of New Port Richey, had been flown by helicopter to Bayfront Medical Center in St. Petersburg for treatment.
Bell told deputies Martinez started punching him and that the stabbing was in self-defense, a sheriff's report said.
Reporter Lisa A. Davis can be reached at (727) 815-1083 or ldavis@tampatrib.com.
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