WINTER HAVEN, Fla. – A Thursday morning disturbance in a Winter Haven neighborhood turned bloody, ending with a man in handcuffs and another headed to the hospital with a chest wound. Police say the violence unfolded around 10:56 a.m, at a home on Lucerne Loop Road.
When officers first arrived at the scene, they found a 38-year-old man bleeding from a stab wound to the upper left side of his chest. Winter Haven police officers jumped in to provide immediate first aid until paramedics arrived to take the victim to a local hospital. Fortunately, authorities confirmed the injuries were not life-threatening.
As medical teams worked on the victim, investigators fanned out across the property to piece together what happened. They quickly identified 55-year-old Adrian Renard Abrams as the primary suspect and took him into custody without any further trouble.
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During his interview with detectives, Abrams claimed he was acting in self-defense. He told police he had been sleeping when the younger man burst into the room and began punching and tackling him. According to Abrams, he only grabbed the knife because he felt he had to protect himself from the physical assault.
However, the story took a sharp turn when investigators started digging into the timing of the stabbing. Abrams reportedly admitted that after the initial scuffle ended, the victim actually left the house. Rather than staying inside or calling for help, Abrams went to the kitchen and grabbed a five-inch blade. He then followed the man outside.
Detectives say Abrams walked about 20 feet toward the victim, looked him in the eye, and said, “I’m gonna stab you,” before plunging the knife into his chest.
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Because the physical fight had already finished and the two men were in separate locations before the stabbing occurred, police determined the attack was a deliberate act rather than an immediate act of self-defense. Winter Haven Police Chief Vance Monroe praised his team for their quick work in securing the scene and making sense of the conflicting stories.
He noted that while the situation was tense, Abrams chose to escalate the violence instead of letting the initial argument fade away. Abrams now faces one count of attempted second-degree murder and has been booked into the Polk County Sheriff’s Office Processing Facility.
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