AMERICAN FALLS — A 23-year-old Washington man has been charged with a felony after police say he stabbed a man with a paring knife at an extended stay motel in American Falls earlier this month.

Allen Zoreil Cruz, 23, has been charged with one count of felony aggravated battery with a deadly weapon in connection to the incident, according to a police report the Idaho State Journal recently obtained.

The incident began to unfold around 9 p.m. on Sept. 17 when American Falls Police and Power County Sheriff’s Office deputies were dispatched to the Hillview Extended Stay on Lakeview Road in American Falls for a distress call, police said.

A language barrier prevented dispatch from obtaining much information about the incident, officers noted in the report.

Upon arrival, officers observed two Hispanic men covered in blood standing by a white pickup truck outside of the extended stay motel, police said. One of the men, later identified as Cruz, took off running toward a white Jeep and entered the passenger side of the vehicle, police said.

The other Hispanic man, later identified as the victim, remained by the white pickup truck and was treated by responding officers and ultimately emergency medical personnel that were dispatched with an ambulance, police said.

Responding officers ordered Cruz out of the vehicle at gunpoint and detained him in handcuffs without incident, according to the report.

When Cruz was being handcuffed, the officer noted he smelled strongly of alcohol and observed that he had a bruised and swollen left eye, a bruised and bloody lip and that his face, torso, arm and hands were covered in fresh and dried blood, said police, adding that Cruz’s jeans and boots were also saturated in blood.

Cruz began making several excited utterances throughout his detainment, including yelling toward the victim to tell him he would cover his medical bills, police said. Cruz also told officers that he had fallen down the stairs, that he had too much to drink, that he had never been to jail, that he was sorry and that he did nothing wrong, according to the report.

An ambulance crew arrived on scene and began treating the victim while officers began to further investigate what happened.

Throughout the course of the investigation, officers learned Cruz and the victim are related, that they were both watching fights on television at the motel and that a verbal argument between the two men turned physical, according to the police report.

The officers reviewed surveillance camera footage from the extended stay and observed that “Cruz was the primary aggressor and had stabbed (the other man) with a knife,” police wrote in the report.

The police described the incident as beginning with Cruz, the victim and another person walking in a hallway at the motel when Cruz and the other person entered a room. Cruz was only briefly in the room before running out while appearing to hold something in his hand, police said.

The victim saw Cruz running at him and kicked him in the abdomen, causing Cruz to fall back, police said. The victim then punched Cruz in the face, which resulted in Cruz grabbing the man in a bear hug, according to the report.

While bear-hugging the victim, officers observed via the surveillance footage Cruz making several downward stabbing motions to the head and neck area, police said.

The other man who was inside the motel room exited the room at this point, grabbed the knife and re-entered the room, officers said.

Police interviewed the man who was seen removing the knife from Cruz’s hand and said he did so because he did not want to see anyone suffer any other injuries, officers said. The man told officers the knife was in the motel room in the sink. The officers collected what was described as a paring knife, according to the report.

Police described the injuries to the victim as not life threatening, the report says.

Cruz was taken to the Power County Hospital for treatment and then booked into the Power County Jail on one count of felony aggravated battery with a deadly weapon following the investigation, police said.

Cruz appeared in front of 6th District Judge Paul Laggis for an arraignment hearing on Sept. 19, during which his bond was set at $45,000.

Cruz is due back in court on Thursday for a preliminary hearing in which prosecutors will attempt to prove there is enough evidence against him to elevate the case from the magistrate to district court level for trial.

If convicted of the felony charge against him, Cruz faces up to 15 years in prison and a fine of up to $50,000.