By Nathan Hardin
nhardin@salisburypost.com
SALISBURY — Deputies said a Long Ferry Road man was stabbed by his friend at a home on Playground Lane Thursday night.
Billy Ambrose Holshouser, of Holshouser Road, was arrested and charged with stabbing George Lee Lyles Jr. about 9:45 p.m., according to the Rowan County Sheriff’s Office.
He remained in jail Friday morning under a $1,000 bond.
Deputy M.T. Poole found Holshouser a few homes down from a residence in the 600-block of Playground Lane after responding to a possible stabbing.
An arrest report said Holshouser had blood on his hands and shirt and was immediately taken into custody.
Poole then found Lyles at the nearby home. Lyles was holding a bloody towel to his chest, the report said.
A witness told deputies she was picked up at her Kannapolis home by the two men Thursday night and invited to the Playground Lane house.
She said Lyles and Holshouser began arguing on the way back, and escalated when they got to the driveway.
A witness told officers Lyles got out of the vehicle first, and was assaulted by Holshouser.
Holshouser contends that the argument turned into an altercation and he used the pocketknife in self defense, according to an arrest report.
Authorities believe alcohol or drugs were a factor in the incident.
Lyles suffered a one-inch gash to his left chest in the struggle. He was treated by Rowan EMS personnel on the scene, but refused transportation to the hospital, the report said.
Holshouser was treated for an abrasion above his eye. He was then charged with assault with a deadly weapon.