Celina man charged in stabbing incident

CELINA - A 24-year-old Celina man faces felonious assault charges related to an early Saturday morning stabbing downtown that injured a woman.

Christopher M. McNew, 816 N. Walnut St., was taken into custody Tuesday after he came to the Celina Police Department for questioning. The second-degree felony charge carries a maximum sentence of eight years in prison and a $15,000 fine if convicted.

McNew was booked into the Mercer County Detention Center and later released after posting bond. He appeared in Celina Municipal Court on Tuesday. A preliminary hearing is slated Oct. 4 to determine whether there is sufficient evidence to transfer the case to Mercer County Common Pleas Court for presentation to grand jurors.

Celina Assistant Police Chief Calvin Freeman said the stabbing resulted from a disagreement between McNew and another man near the intersection of Walnut and Fayette streets shortly before 2:45 a.m. The victim, described as a 21-year-old Wren woman, was standing nearby with several other people when she sustained a knife wound to the upper arm.

The unidentified woman was taken by ambulance to Mercer County Community Hospital in Coldwater, where she was treated in the emergency room and released.

Freeman said McNew was identified as a suspect based on interviews with people at the scene.