Officers descended on the area and spent the next several hours searching for the assailant, who the victim claimed ran into the woods. There were no other witnesses, but later a passing motorist reported seeing someone who matched the suspect's description get into a car in the vicinity and ride away, Davis said. Detectives traced the others in the car. They said they took their friend to meet the victim at a store near Paulson Road to buy pot. The two drove away in the victim's car.
Detectives say the fight broke out in the car as the suspect tried to take the pot without paying.
The suspect's friends said they met him as he walked back to the store, took him home to change clothes and delivered him to his girlfriend's house Wednesday night. They noticed only a few drops of blood on his clothes, Davis said. The victim was cut from the top to the bottom of his nose, in the thigh, and had a defensive wound to his hand, investigators said. There were no drugs or weapons found on the victim, Davis said. Detectives obtained a search warrant late Thursday to look for other evidence at the suspect's Silverdale home.