BPD: 3 suspects attacked man, stabbed him in the back behind Upstairs Pub in Bloomington

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - Bloomington police have arrested one of three suspects allegedly involved in an attack last weekend behind Upstairs Pub where a man was stabbed in the back.

Braxton Pavey, 19, of Bedford, was officially charged Monday in Monroe County Court with one count of battery with a deadly weapon - a level 5 felony.




Pavey was arrested over the weekend after allegedly admitting to stabbing a man in the back after a night out in Bloomington.

The stabbing

Police were called around 1:30 a.m. Saturday to IU Health Bloomington Hospital after a victim checked in with a stab wound in the back.




Officers arrived and found out that the stabbing had occurred around 1:10 a.m. in the area of 430 E. Kirkwood Avenue.




The victim told officers he arrived on Kirkwood Avenue around 11:30 p.m. and saw three men "making comments towards him and his friends." They reportedly did not recognize the men and chose to ignore them.




The group had parked in the lot behind Upstairs Pub, northeast of 4th Street and Dunn Street, and began heading back to their car around 1 a.m. While leaving the area, the victim reportedly walked under the walkway that goes underneath the bar.




While under the walkway, the victim said he again encountered the three men who were yelling at him. He said that one of the men immediately "blindsided" him by punching him in the face and knocking him to the ground.




The victim said he was kicked while on the ground and that he used his arms to cover his face and head. As he did this, he reportedly felt himself get stabbed in the back once.




After the attack, the three suspects allegedly ran off on foot to the south. Meanwhile, the victim ran north to his car and was immediately driven to the hospital.

Aftermath, investigation

Hospital staff told police the victim did suffer from a single stab wound that was just left of his spine and approximately three centimeters deep. He also suffered from cuts on his knees, bruising and swelling to his face.




Police interviewed witnesses who saw the three men attack the victim without warning. One witness described seeing a white male pull out a "pearl-handled" knife and stab the victim. A second witness said another suspect pulled out and cocked a handgun, but never used it.




Surveillance footage from the area showed the moments leading up to the attack but not the incident itself. The suspects are allegedly seen walking toward the victim and laughing as they enter the walkway. They appear to be yelling something at the victim's group, police said.




After the attack, the video shows the three suspects run away from the scene on foot. One of the suspects, who witnesses said stabbed the victim, is seen losing one of his shoes.




Officers went to the area and found the all-black shoe left behind by the suspect. In the same area they found a hat worn by the suspect as well as a debit card belonging to Braxton Pavey.

Arrest, interview

Police were able to locate Pavey on Sunday in Bedford. There, he was detained and driven to the Bloomington Police Department for an interview.




Pavey was shown a photo of the three suspects before the stabbing and reportedly admitted that he was there and that he was in the photo. The suspect told police that a fight had occurred, but stated he "didn't want to fight" and denied having a knife.




"He described that he didn't remember some things, and that, 'It was adrenaline'," a police report reads.




Pavey at first tried to claim that the victim's group had guns, but then later retracted that statement and said that no one had mentioned or pulled a gun. Eventually, he admitted to using a folding knife with a white handle during the fight.




"Mr. Pavey said that after punches started being thrown, 'I wanted to make it the best I could for us,' and 'I didn't want them to win'," police wrote. "He then said, 'When it comes down to it, if you're a threat, I've got to neutralize you."




Pavey then told officers that later in the night, when he told the other two suspects he had stabbed the victim, they became upset with him. He did not give any information on the other suspects and police have been unable to locate them.

Court proceedings

Pavey was arrested and booked into the Monroe County Jail on one count of battery with a deadly weapon. He is now being held on a $10,000.00 surety bond and a $500.00 cash bond.




An initial hearing in Pavey's case was scheduled to be held at 1 p.m. Tuesday in Monroe Circuit Court 5. Judge Darcie Fawcett will hear the case.




If convicted of the level 5 felony, Pavey could face up to 6 years in prison and up to a $10,000 fine.




Online court records show that Pavey's only previous criminal charge in Indiana was unlawful tobacco possession by a minor in 2023 in Lawrence County.





via: https://fox59.com/news/indynews/bpd-3-suspects-attacked-man-stabbed-him-in-the-back-behind-upstairs-pub-in-bloomington/