OLYMPIA — The Army has decided two Rangers suspected of involvement in a stabbing outside an Olympia bar last March won’t deploy overseas.
The military initially said Alfred Joseph Sanchez and John Melville could deploy with their unit. But following angry comments from the victim and his mother, an Army Ranger spokeswoman told The Olympian newspaper that the men will remain in the Fort Lewis area.
The stabbing victim, Brad Merten of Olympia, and his mother, Kaye Mayo, both expressed anger last week after hearing that the Rangers’ sergeant had requested a trial continuance so the two soldiers could deploy with their unit. A Thurston County Superior Court judge granted the request.
Mayo said the military’s decision is in the best interest of everyone involved, including the military.
The accused soldiers, Sanchez, 20, and Melville, 22, are members of the 2nd Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment. Sanchez is charged with first-degree assault while armed with a deadly weapon and first-degree burglary in connection with the stabbing of Merten outside Charlie’s Bar &Grill in the early morning of March 28. Melville is charged with first-degree burglary.
Army Ranger spokeswoman Tracy Bailey e-mailed a statement to The Olympian from Fort Benning, Ga., on Wednesday. In a phone interview Thursday, Bailey said the Army’s reversal of its earlier decision allowing the two soldiers to deploy “was a leadership decision.” She offered no further details.
Thurston County Chief Deputy Prosecutor Jon Tunheim has said he did not oppose the continuance request because other witnesses in the case also will be unavailable in the coming months because of deployment.
Sanchez is accused of stabbing Merten in the back “with a large knife,” according to court documents. The stabbing occurred after Sanchez and Melville were thrown out of the bar, then returned by breaking down the back door of the establishment, court papers said.
Sanchez is accused of stealing a knife from Charlie’s kitchen.
Merten suffered a punctured lung, a broken rib and a damaged liver, and a chest tube had to be inserted, court papers state. Mayo said her son was in the hospital for five days.
Information from: The Olympian, www.theolympian.com
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