On December 25, at 1:29 a.m., Eugene Police Patrol officers responded to Jackson’s Market, 330 West 7th Avenue for a report of a stabbing.
A female employee had been on shift and standing outside, when an unknown male came running up to the store from West 7th Avenue. The man advised he was being followed and he needed help. The employee didn’t see anyone else. The man, later identified as William Brian Chapman, age 59, started yelling, then rushed at her and pushed her. Due to this behavior, she tried to block him from entering the store. A 40-year-old male employee heard the female employee yell for help and came to intervene. He had pushed Chapman away from the female employee, when Chapman pulled a knife. During this incident, the male employee was stabbed. Chapman was reported to have walked away westbound through West 7th Alley toward Lawrence Street.
The victim was able to provide a good description and officers began searching for the suspect, while he was transported to a local hospital by Eugene Springfield Fire EMS. A Eugene Police officer located Chapman, and advised Chapman to stop, but Chapman did not comply. The officer had to ask him again, and Chapman stopped and attempted to reach into his pockets. Another officer arrived and Chapman was safely taken into custody without incident.
Chapman was lodged into the Lane County Jail on charges of Assault in the Second Degree and Unlawful Use of a Weapon.
Case 21-20274