Suspect was stranger to victim in Fifth Avenue stabbing

Published: Updated:
William E. Lyons (Photo via Collier County Sheriff’s Office)

NAPLES, Fla. A man stabbed Tuesday morning at a Fifth Avenue coffee shop was attacked with such force that the knife traveled through his wrist and into his chest, he told police.

The victim, identified in an arrest report as David Marshall, told police he was sitting outside the Fifth Avenue Coffee Company on 599 Fifth Avenue S. drinking coffee with friends when a man wearing an eye patch lunged at him with a knife.

Had he not put his hand up to block the knife, Marshall believes it would have gone into his heart, he told police. Marshall was taken to Naples Community Hospital and is expected to recover, police said.

MORE: 1 wounded in stabbing on Fifth Avenue in Naples

William E. Lyons, 53, was arrested after police arrived and faces a charge of attempted murder. A witness and surveillance video corroborated Marshall’s statements, according to police.

Lyons faces an additional charge of battery on a first responder after spitting in the face of a police detective while being taken to jail, according to the arrest report.

He has prior convictions for misdemeanor battery and was previously acquitted in a battery on a first responder for the reason of insanity.

He’s listed as homeless on the arrest report. He waived his right to attend an initial court appearance and is being held on no bond pending a court hearing Thursday.

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