A flurry of sirens moving toward the intersection of Garden and Arrellaga streets last night followed a stabbing in Alice Keck Park Memorial Gardens. Officers arrived at the park at about 9 p.m., where they found a group of people standing near a 20-year-old who had been stabbed in the left side of his abdomen. The group told police that they had been confronted by two people they did not know. According to the police account of events, an argument ensued and, when the victim challenged them to a fight, one of the two strangers pulled out a knife and stabbed. The victim was admitted to Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital. The victim, however, told the Independent that he had not, in fact, challenged anyone to a fight and that the police report was incorrect.
Meanwhile, a second group of people called 911 to report having been in a fight in the same park. The officers went to meet this group, near the corner of De la Vina and Mission streets and they met Fernando Aldapa, 25, whom police identified as the one who had stabbed the 20-year-old. The alleged weapon was recovered and Aldapa was arrested and booked into Santa Barbara County Jail for assault with a deadly weapon.