By ROBIN SHANNON

Staff Reporter

LAPLACE — A Florida man was taken into custody in connection with a stabbing incident at a LaPlace trailer park last month, said a Sheriff’s Office spokesman.

Maj. Mike Tregre, public information officer for the St. John Sheriff’s Office, said authorities in Texas arrested Samuel R. McGallion, 33, 1224 Waterview Blvd. E., Lakeland, Fla., during a routine traffic stop when it was learned he was wanted in St. John Parish. Tregre said McGallion is the prime suspect in the stabbing incident, which left one man with injuries to his stomach.

According to a report from the Sheriff’s Office, a 33-year-old LaPlace man, whose name was not released, was stabbed in the abdomen after trying to break up an argument between a man, later identified as McGallion, and an unidentified female. The incident happened on November 2 at a trailer park in the 100 block of Johnny Court in LaPlace.

Tregre said McGallion and the female were involved in a physical altercation when the stabbing victim and another friend approached to intervene.

The victim told investigators that he and McGallion began to fight. The victim said after the fight was broken up, he turned and walked away. As he was walking from the scene, he said McGallion came running after him and stabbed him in the stomach. Tregre said McGallion then fled the scene in a vehicle headed toward River Road.

The stabbing victim was transported to River Parishes Hospital and later transferred to Ochsner Hospital in New Orleans, where he remained in very critical condition for nearly 48 hours. He has since been released from the hospital.

Tregre also said that at some point during the incident, the unidentified female also fled the scene. No information is known about her condition.

Following his arrest in Texas, McGallion was booked with attempted second-degree murder in St. John Parish. He was transported to the Sherman Walker Correctional Facility in LaPlace where he is being held on $100,000 bond.