Man Stabbed After Intervening in Fight

A man who came to the aid of a woman involved in a fight with another man was stabbed early Sunday when he intervened in the quarrel, police said.

James Tassano, 41, was driving with a friend on Avocado Place near La Crescenta Drive around 1 a.m., when police said he noticed Christopher Dewoody, 19, of Camarillo apparently fighting with an unidentified woman.

Tassano, also of Camarillo, stopped his car and confronted Dewoody, which led to a struggle between the two men, authorities said. Dewoody then allegedly stabbed Tassano in the back with a knife, said Ventura County Sheriff’s Sgt. Chuck Buttell.

Tassano’s friend, whom authorities also did not identify, drove Tassano to St. John’s Pleasant Valley Hospital, where he is listed in stable condition.

Dewoody’s mother, Candi Dewoody, said her son only fought with Tassano to protect the woman, whom she described as her son’s girlfriend. Officials with the Sheriff’s Department refused to respond to Candi Dewoody’s account of the dispute.

Christopher Dewoody turned himself in and was arrested at the Camarillo police station on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon. He was later released on $2,000 bail, according to Candi Dewoody and jail officials.