Meeting Street Man Charged with Felony Assault

A 31-year-old Newport man was charged with felony domestic assault early Wednesday morning after he allegedly attacked a man and woman asleep on a couch at a Broadway apartment, scratching the man’s back with a kitchen knife.

Police said they found the knife at the base of a tree on Broadway during their investigation that began when an officer on patrol heard a commotion and saw a man hitting the ground with a baseball bat at around midnight.

The man holding the bat was the victim, who said he was sliced in the back by Lee Vertis Smith III, 31, of 19 Meeting St., during a fight at an apartment at 242 Broadway, according to a police report.

Smith allegedly woke up a woman who was asleep on the couch next to the male victim. Smith told the woman that he was going to take her last cigarette, according to a police report.

The woman then reportedly turned to rouse her sleeping partner when Smith “got in her face and told her to ’shut your [expletive] mouth,’” police said. Smith then punched the male victim in the face, grabbed a kitchen knife and wrestled with the victim until he was finally chased out of the apartment by baseball bat.

During the struggle, the victim suffered a superficial 7-inch scratch that did not require medical attention, police said.

Smith was taken into custody and held overnight for arraignment.