A 48-year-old Arlington man is facing felony charges after police say he injured two people and tried to stab a third during a string of attacks Monday night, an assault that ended only when bystanders tackled him and held him down until officers arrived. David Lamont Bates, who police say lives in Arlington, now faces two counts of malicious wounding and one count of attempted malicious wounding.
According to WJLA, Arlington County police officers were dispatched around 9:38 p.m. Monday to the 2100 block of South Clark Street for a reported stabbing. What they found, investigators say, was the tail end of a chaotic sequence involving three separate victims in different parts of the same neighborhood.
Police allege Bates first approached a man who was removing items from a vehicle and tried to stab him, but the victim managed to run from the area and escape injury. The outlet's report notes that Bates then approached a second man at the 400 block of 23rd Street S. while displaying a knife, and that man suffered a non-life-threatening laceration during the encounter.
Bystanders Step In Before Police Arrive
It was at that point, per the same account, that bystanders intervened and restrained Bates until officers arrived and took him into custody. While searching the area afterward, officers located a third man suffering from a non-life-threatening laceration, bringing the total number of people hurt to two, alongside the man who fled uninjured.
The second and third victims were both taken to a hospital for treatment, the report states. Police recovered two folding knives at the scene, evidence investigators tied to the string of attacks across the two blocks.
Charges Filed, Legal Exposure Explained
Bates was charged with two counts of malicious wounding and one count of attempted malicious wounding following the incidents. Under Virginia Code § 18.2-51, a person who maliciously shoots, stabs, cuts, or wounds another person, or otherwise causes bodily injury, with intent to maim, disfigure, disable, or kill, is guilty of a Class 3 felony, except where otherwise provided by law.
Arlington's Recent History With Knife Violence
Monday's attacks weren't an isolated first for the county. Arlington police investigated two separate stabbing incidents within 24 hours of each other in October 2025, one in Ballston and one in Arlington Mill, according to Patch. In that case, a man suffered non-life-threatening lacerations on the 900 block of South Dinwiddie Street and was taken to a hospital by medics.
Further back, in December 2023, three people were stabbed during a physical altercation involving about five people who knew one another in a stairwell inside a residential building on the 5100 block of Columbia Pike, as reported by ARLnow. All three victims in that incident were listed in stable condition with non-life-threatening injuries.
