Delores L. Walker, Free Press Reporter

Sergeant John Young, Investigator with Lafayette County Sheriff’s Office said an altercation between three men, in the early morning hours Friday, May 14, left the victim, Adan S. Torres, 26, seriously wounded from over 14 stabs by a kitchen butcher knife and a smaller kitchen knife wielded by two assailants, Carlos A. Pantalion, 18 and Francisco B. Salgado, 26, all of Mayo. Witnesses at the scene told Young the men had been drinking alcohol all through the night and were very intoxicated.



According to Young’s report, K-9 Officer Dep. Geoff Condy and Paska were dispatched to Williams Trailer Park at SR 27 West between midnight and 1 a.m. where witnesses, Jose E. Salgado, 19 and a 17-year-old juvenile, who were also occupants of the dwelling where the stabbing occurred told the officer that the two suspects had fled on foot after the victim had managed to escape the bedroom where the attack had taken place, before he collapsed near the doorway of the mobile home.



Joining Condy were Sheriff Carson McCall, Sgt. John Young and Dep. Scott Hamlin as well as the MCI K-9 Team, Troy Hamlin, Mike Calhoun, Lance Lamb and K-9 Sarge. A search of the area was instigated by the MCI K-9 Team who were able to locate the alleged suspects in the woods near the old Sweetwater Bar. The two were quickly cuffed and taken into custody by the officers for transport to the Lafayette County Detention Center where they are held on $30,000 bonds, charged with aggravated battery and conspiracy to commit murder.



The victim, Adan Torres was life flighted to Shands at Gainesville where he remains in intensive care after undergoing surgery.