YORK, Maine – It was the first time in a while that Stanley Rhodes and his son Eric had come to race radio-controlled cars across Short Sands Beach.
The two were in the parking lot at the beach on Thursday, October 12, when Rhodes heard a stranger’s voice say something indistinguishable. He was sure he heard him use a racial slur, and turned to face the man sitting in the SUV parked next to them.
“I said, ‘What did you say?’” Rhodes recalled. “He pushed the door open, lunged at me and stabbed me.”
Rhodes, who suffered stab wounds to the chest and biceps, survived his injuries and returned home from the hospital Friday night. On the same day, his The alleged assailant Daniel Urban, 72, of Windham, Maine, was arraigned on bail set by the judge at $25,000.
Rhodes, who lives with his son in Manchester, was receiving care from a nurse at home but said he was back on his feet and recovering quickly. He said he feels comfortable enough to continue his daily life despite facing a situation that could have been much worse.
“I’m still in shock that I was stabbed,” Rhodes said. “I couldn’t even tell you what the guy looked like; he was so fast.
York Beach stabbing: Police say the man has been charged with an “unprovoked attack.”
Stabbed at Short Sands Beach
Rhodes’ son, Eric, described the day of the stabbing as a “strange day.” He and his father enjoy driving their radio-controlled cars, some of which are full-sized and semi-professional. They have been coming to York often in recent years and decided to return this fall day.
Father and son were packing their car to return to Manchester at about 2:14 p.m. when police say Rhodes heard Urban speaking. What Orban said was not clear, but Rhodes said it sounded like a “derogatory statement about black people.”
The stabbing then occurred over the course of about 30 seconds, according to Rhodes, when Urban attacked him from inside the car. Rhodes said he did not realize he had been stabbed.
“I thought he was just punching me,” Rhodes said.
As soon as Rhodes saw that he was bleeding, he realized what had happened. He said he turned to his son to tell him he had been stabbed.
“The blood was already pouring out of me, and I was kind of falling back,” Rhodes said. “I said, ‘Eric, this guy just stabbed me.’
Stanley Rhodes said he waited, bleeding on the back of his pickup truck, when first responders arrived. Eric Rhodes called 911 while making sure the car of the person who stabbed his father was photographed before the man drove away.
Fortunately, an emergency medical team was on the beach and rushed in immediately, he said. An off-duty nurse who was at a hotel across the street also heard what happened on her scanner and came to help. In the end, his father was transported by ambulance and treated in hospital.
Meanwhile, police were able to locate Urban’s car and stop him on Shore Road. York police said they conducted a high-risk traffic stop, where they drew their weapons as they approached Urban’s parked car. They added that Orban was arrested without incident.
Eric Rhodes said police approached the scene with caution, telling him he needed to stay there and could not get into his father’s car until his final condition was known.
“They’re saying, ‘If he died, I think it would have escalated to a homicide and not a felony assault,'” Eric Rhodes said. “That never really occurred to me.”
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Eric Rhodes said he felt a sense of hope when he heard his father highlight what happened with his brand of “sick humour” while he was being treated and transported in the ambulance. His father said that he did not lose consciousness or become dizzy after the stabbing. He was treated in the hospital for about five hours, according to the son, before his condition was confirmed to be stable.
Once he returned home, Stanley Rhodes decided he was well enough to return to work. As a retiree, he enjoys working for FedEx. He said the stabbing did not keep him away.
“I’m sore. I’m fine,” Rhodes said. “I went back to work. I’m one of those people who can’t stay away.
Police said Friday they were unsure of the motive for the assault and that Urban was not answering questions to help her at the time. Eric Rhodes said he was told that Orban was making meaningless statements to police, who were accused of being racist.
Rhodes said he was told: “The CIA now controls all the white people in the United States, and the blacks now control the CIA.” “It didn’t make much sense.”
Orban is scheduled to hold a disposition conference in court on January 23. Eric Rhodes, who watched his summons on Friday, said he questioned Orban’s stability in light of his statements and actions.
“He kind of showed that he didn’t have all his facilities,” Eric Rhodes said.
This article originally appeared on the Portsmouth Herald: A York Beach stabbing victim speaks out after the attack in Short Sands
