Mount Pleasant was rocked by a vicious attack between roommates that led to a citywide manhunt and culminated in the arrest of a man accused of attempted murder. Officials confirmed to ABC12 that 57-year-old Paul Vance Ellingson was apprehended yesterday after a nine-day search, following an alleged violent clash on February 16 in which Ellingson reportedly stabbed his roommate, 56-year-old Larry David Eckardt.
The intensity of the domestic strife became graphic the attack was first commenced with the assailant striking the victim with a vase while he napped, then proceeded to stab him approximately eight times—a graphic account laid out in court documents and reported by The Morning Sun. Eckardt, after a harrowing escape through a window, was treated and then released from MyMichigan-Midland hospital; meanwhile, Ellingson took off in Eckardt's car, kicking off an exhaustive search.
The incident originally unfurled to public awareness on the southwest side of the city, at their shared residence on 1511 Granger St, based on a 5:03 p.m. emergency call that had witnesses speaking to a violent escalation between the roommates, according to reporting by hoodline. Ellingson successfully evaded immediate apprehension despite the victim being found with multiple stab wounds."
The Mount Pleasant police department along with the help of Central Michigan University Police and the Isabella County Sheriff's Office continued the manhunt assuring the residents that there was no further threat to the community with the police force working around the clock until Ellingson's capture, the fevered pursuit of the suspect was aided by the community's vigilance and tips to the police as reported by hoodline. As the neighborhoods reel from the shock of such a brutal domestic attack, the once fugitive Ellingson now faces the consequences of that harrowing February day.
