PORTLAND Ore. (KPTV/Gray News) – A Portland man is recovering after being stabbed by a stripper in the back four times this past weekend.
Duncan Allen has worked as a DJ at Casa Diablo Vegan Strip Club for over a decade and said he’s seen a thing or two during that time. However, never did he think he would leave work in an ambulance with stab wounds.
“I was on my computer getting some songs ready and next thing I knew I felt like a 500-pound man punch me in the back as hard as humanly possible,” Allen said. “So I turned around expecting there to be a huge dude about to fight me and it was her [a dancer] and she was standing there holding a knife.“
As shocked as he was, Allen knew he had to stay calm.
“I still didn’t know I was stabbed at that point. Then I took a breath in and realized my left lung had collapsed,” he said.
First responders were called to the scene, Allen said paramedics told him he was just minutes away from drowning in his own blood that was filling his lung.
Allen said he is still wondering why the dancer attacked him, completely unprovoked.
The owner of the club, Johnny Diablo Žūklė, said he was just as shocked because the dancer, now identified by authorities as Peyton Lathan, had worked for him for 10 years.
“She was always a little off, but she never exhibited signs of violent tendencies,” Žūklė said. “She definitely had a mental health crisis. I think she had intended to kill someone, and it just happened to be Duncan, and when I think about it when she was in the dressing room for about 10 minutes, she seemed like she was possessed by a demon.”
After leaving the club, authorities said Lathan was found hiding in bushes alongside the road as police were escorting Allen’s ambulance to the hospital.
Police pulled over and arrested the 29-year-old. She’s facing two assault charges, as well as a charge for unlawful possession of a weapon.
According to court documents, Lathan told police repeatedly during her arrest that she was “pleading insanity” and said, “That man is a drug dealer.”
Allen, who denies those claims, said he would like to see concerning behaviors taken more seriously. He believes had someone spoken up about Lathan’s behavior beforehand, she may never have gotten the chance to attack him.
“She could’ve cracked my ribs. She could have stabbed me in the kidney. She could have stabbed me in the neck. She could have stabbed me in the spine,” he said. “If I have to be honest with you, I think she should get charged the highest because the fact is this was premeditated.”
Lathan is expected to be arraigned on her indictment Tuesday morning.
Allen’s friends have since started a GoFundMe to assist him with his medical costs.
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