IN BRIEF

A heated dispute that resulted in the stabbing of a 32-year-old man

Wednesday afternoon at a Costa Mesa motel was apparently about the

suspect’s girlfriend.

Police said 23-year-old Joseph Edward Marion, who was arrested on

suspicion of attempted murder and assault with a deadly weapon, was

reportedly upset with his girlfriend, who he thought was cheating on him.

The victim, a mutual friend who lives in Newport Beach, got into an

argument with Marion at the Sea Lark Motor Hotel on Newport Boulevard.

Marion stabbed the victim multiple times in the shoulder, neck and

stomach with a small knife. The victim was taken to Western Medical

Center in Santa Ana where he is listed in stable condition.

Marion escaped the motel but was eventually captured by police after a

two-hour manhunt. It started after a Costa Mesa police officer who

noticed the suspect’s car tried to stop Marion at a gas station. Marion

rammed the officer’s car twice before fleeing on foot near Elden Avenue.

The 30-year-old girlfriend who was the supposed cause of the dispute also

ran away but was found a short time later hiding in a backyard.

After police had been searching the area, a resident who lives on the

2500 block of Elden Avenue noticed some furniture had been moved in his

house. Police were called in and searched the home. They found Marion

hidden in a small crawl space above a water heater.

-- Greg Risling