Port Royal argument over crabs results in fight, stabbing, assault charge, arrest

A 63-year-old Port Royal man is accused of stabbing a 51-year-old man at Wayside Mobile Home Park Saturday night following an argument police said was over crabs.

James Francis is charged with assault and battery of a high and aggravated nature and is being held in Beaufort County Detention Center with bond set at $10,000, according to online records.

The argument shortly after 7 p.m. allegedly escalated to a fight at a mobile home on Wayside Lane, near Marina Boulevard and Parris Island Gateway, according to a Port Royal Police Department report.

Francis told police he had recently moved back into the home, joining a woman and another man, according to the report. The woman had cooked some crabs and Francis was getting ready to eat when the other man told him he couldn’t and that he should leave. Francis allegedly went outside and the other man followed. The two fought and Francis was hit three times with a wooden board, he told police

The victim told police that he told Francis to leave after he came into the home talking about killing someone, according to the report. Francis allegedly became angry, grabbed a kitchen knife and started coming at the other man aggressively, the report said. The man said he tried to deflect the knife so he wouldn’t be stabbed in his chest or abdomen and instead was stabbed in the palm of his left hand. He picked up a wooden board to defend himself and Francis allegedly threw the knife and ran away, the report said.

The woman said she went inside to call 911 when she saw the two start fighting outside and said she didn’t see the stabbing, according to the report.

Police found the victim holding the board when they arrived and found a knife near the mailbox area of the mobile home park, according to the report. Francis was interviewed there and arrested shortly after.

This story was originally published August 7, 2017 at 3:34 PM with the headline "Port Royal argument over crabs results in fight, stabbing, assault charge, arrest."