La Mesa Man Gets 1 Year in Jail for Stabbing Roommate

A man who attacked his female roommate at their La Mesa apartment, prompting her to stab him in self-defense, was sentenced today to a year in jail and placed on three years probation.

Blaine Anthony Arellano, 20, pleaded guilty last month to domestic violence on a cohabitant.

Shortly before 5:30 a.m. on March 24, police got two reports within a few minutes of each other -- of a domestic dispute in the 3800 block of Murray Hill Drive, and a man with knife wounds showing up at Grossmont Hospital. Officers soon determined that the two incidents were related, La Mesa police Lt. Matt Nicholass said.

A woman at the apartment told police a roommate she had dated until recently -- later identified as Arellano -- had hit and bit her during a quarrel. When he started to choke her, she grabbed a knife and stabbed him to end the assault, Nicholass said.

The 26-year-old woman was taken to a hospital for an evaluation. Arellano was treated for two wounds to his right arm before being booked into San Diego Central Jail.

—City News Service