Within a five-and-a-half-hour span yesterday, Barrie police responded to two separate stabbing reports, one included injuries to a dog.
Police were initially called to a wooded area near the southbound ramp to Highway 400 from northbound Bayfield Street. Officers say at around 4:36 p.m., a victim was asleep in his tent when he was attacked by a known male.
"After being violently awakened, the suspect was chased by the victim westbound onto Bayfield Street, and then southbound to the Highway 400 northbound off-ramp where the suspect was observed to have placed an object on the ground," police stated in a release on Wednesday.
"As this incident unfolded, unsuspecting members of the public became involved, which assisted police with what would evolve into an ongoing, but solvable investigation."
Officers say details led them to the former site of the YMCA, near Grove Steet West.
At 5:36 p.m., police arrested the suspect on Peel Street and he was taken to Barrie Police Headquarters.
An individual of no fixed address faces a charge of aggravated assault and is scheduled for a bail hearing today.
Police say the victim was transported to hospital with a serious, but non-life-threatening injury.
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Later, just before 10:00 p.m., officers say a male was walking his dog in the Dunlop and Owen Streets area when an argument ensued with an unknown male who stabbed him and the dog.
"The dog was treated for an injury and the victim was transported to a local hospital where he is receiving ongoing treatment for a stab wound," police said.
The wanted suspect is described as male, black, wearing a grey-coloured hoodie, dark shorts, and running shoes.
He was last seen running south on Owen Street.
Officers continue to investigate the incident.
"The Barrie Police Service wishes to thank the public who were involved in both incidents yesterday as they provided responding officers with valuable information that ultimately led to the recovery of key evidence and the arrest of the person responsible in the first incident, and a description of the suspect being sought in the second incident," police added.
