Egg-throwing incident leads to man's stabbing

MOREHEAD CITY - Retaliation over an egg thrown at a passing vehicle ended in a weekend stabbing that landed one man in jail and another in the hospital.

Francisco Hernandez, 23, a Massachusetts resident working in the area, was arrested Sunday night by the Carteret County Sheriff's Office and charged with assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill inflicting serious injury.

Hernandez is accused of the stabbing Joshua Lambert, 21, of Dill Creek Lane in Morehead City, during an altercation around 10 p.m. Sunday on N.C. 24 just west of Morehead City.

According to the Sheriff's Office, witnesses saw several people throwing eggs at passing motorists near the Brandywine subdivision.

When an egg hit the Ryder moving truck Hernandez was driving, he allegedly stopped the truck and chased down Lambert. During the altercation, Lambert was stabbed twice and punched in the face, the Sheriff's Office said.

Chief Deputy Ken Raper said the knife used in the stabbing actually belonged to Lambert, who pulled it out when Hernandez chased him down.

"He pulled the knife on Mr. Hernandez, who took the knife away and then stabbed (Lambert) with it," Raper said.

Lambert, who was in stable condition at Carteret General Hospital on Tuesday, was stabbed once in the upper torso and once in the leg.

A passenger in the moving truck pulled Hernandez off the victim and forced him back to the truck, at which time the vehicle left the scene, investigators said.

A radio broadcast was issued to law enforcement and the truck was stopped on N.C. 24 by Cape Carteret Police Department officers Lynn Trigleth and Joshua Hayden. Hernandez was taken into custody without incident.

Hernandez was placed in the Carteret County Jail under a $100,000 bond. He was working in North Carolina delivering furniture of Eagle Lines Moving Co., based in Watertown, Mass., the Sheriff's Office said.

Staff writer Jannette Pippin can be contacted at 910-382-2557. Visit www.jdnews.com to comment on this report.