An argument between two Leelanau County men leaves one dead and another in custody.
LELAND TOWNSHIP -- The sheriff's office says the two men from the Suttons Bay area were arguing Sunday evening. The situation escalated into a major confrontation and an eventual homicide just hours later.
"Upon arriving at the scene, deputies learned that an individual had been stabbed by an associate of his. There has been some kind of confrontation," says Leelanau County Sheriff Mike Oltersdorf.
Sheriff Oltersdorf says a confrontation that started Sunday evening between two men escalated into one of the men stabbing the other, just hours later.
The sheriff's office isn't releasing the exact location of where the stabbing took place but Sheriff Oltersdorf says it happened at a home on French Road in Leland Township around one o'clock Monday morning.
"At the time the victim was stabbed, the resident of the house wanted to get him to the hospital as soon as possible not realizing the seriousness of the injury, loaded him into his car and left the scene. However, upon driving down the road towards Munson he became aware that the subject was in great distress and called 911 on his cell phone," says Sheriff Oltersdorf.
Sheriff Oltersdorf says the victim, a 33 year old Suttons Bay man died before the ambulance arrived.
Meanwhile, four hours later, deputies arrested the suspect who is also from the Suttons Bay area.
"He had fled the scene and we learned that he had been in possession of the a cell phone. Deputies were able to make contact with him numerous times within a four hour period, and in fact talked him into surrendering in Lake Leelanau Village. That was accomplished without incident," says Sheriff Oltersdorf.
Sheriff Oltersdorf wants to assure the community that the homicide does not involve any criminal activity.
"It wasn't anything criminal in nature or drug dealing, it was more civil. Persons known to each other got into an argument and the end result is one of them expired," says Sheriff Oltersdorf.
The victim's body was transported to Grand Rapids for an autopsy. His name is not being released at this time. The suspect is scheduled to be arraigned sometime this week.
