Witness recounts narrow escape in downtown Sudbury stabbing

Sudbury police seek a suspect in a downtown stabbing. A witness says the man, appearing intoxicated, attacked another man before swinging a knife at him.

A suspect remains at large after a stabbing early Saturday morning in downtown Sudbury, that left one person with serious, non-life-threatening injuries.

Greater Sudbury police said the incident happened around 2:25am on Jan. 24 at a fast-food restaurant on Elm Street.

Russell Hewitt, a 23-year-old from North Bay had been out at several bars in Sudbury with his girlfriend and some of her friends that night. She lives in a community not far from the city.

This was Hewitt’s first time going out in Sudbury.

“Definitely worries me a little bit going back. I heard that it’s pretty rough,” he said.

In an exclusive interview with CTV News, Hewitt said they had gone to Pizza Pizza for some food when a group of men dressed in black clothing came into the restaurant.

He said one of the men in that group tried to pick a fight with him, offering $100 to fight.

“I didn’t notice it, my girlfriend noticed that his pupils were very big like he was on something,” Hewitt said.

Hewitt said he told his group it was time for them to leave. They got up and left the restaurant, but several of them had not yet received their food order, so they stood outside waiting.

That’s when he said the group of men beating up another man inside and that the man looking to fight had a knife.

“We saw that he had a bladed weapon that was probably 6 or 7 inches,” said Hewitt.

“He made a thrusting motion at the man that was on the ground. So, I said ‘he has a knife’ and we took off up the street.”

But he said the suspect followed after them.

“I turned around, and when I turned around, he was about four to seven feet away approaching me with (the weapon). I had a box of food and I threw it at him. When I threw it at him, he hit me across here,” Hewitt said while motioning across his upper torso.

“I didn’t realize it until the next morning, but I had a cut in my coat… all the way through my coat.”

Hewitt said he does not know the suspect or the victim.

According to police, a 22-year-old victim was taken to hospital with serious but non-life-threatening injuries.

Investigators said the two were involved in a verbal argument inside the business and the suspect fled on foot prior to officers arriving at the scene.

Police are looking for a man in his 20s, about 5’10 with black hair and wearing a black coat. The Greater Sudbury Police Service has released an image of the suspect from the restaurant’s surveillance system.

As for Hewitt, he told CTV News that he is glad he kept a cool head.

“If I had to do it again, I’d do it the same way because I would rather me take the brunt of (the stabbing) head on knowing it was coming, than have him go up behind somebody I was with or my girlfriend and sink it into them.”