The details surrounding what happened in a Sugar Hill road rage stabbing are becoming clearer to police.
It happened on May 7 at a red light on Peachtree Industrial Blvd. near Little Mill Rd. Police say both drivers got out of their vehicles to confront each other and began physically fighting. Eugene Brants, 25 of Dacula, stabbed the other driver, 38-year-old Jesse Cole of Demorest.
Cole was found lying behind his truck with three other men standing around him. The three witnesses told police they saw the victim walking around "as if he was drunk" but then saw he was covered in blood.
Brants left the scene and police issued a BOLO for his car. He saw himself on the news and police said he turned himself in. That's when they got a clearer picture of the string of events.
In the initial information police released, the story was completely different. Here is an excerpt:
"On May 7, 2018, the victim was stopped at a red light on Peachtree Industrial Blvd. The suspect stopped beside the victim and got out. The suspect approached the victim’s door and stabbed the victim multiple times."
After turning himself in, Brants told detectives Cole hit him several times in the head, he even showed detectives bruises he said he got in that fight.
As a result of the new information, both were charged. Brants was arrested and charged with aggravated assault for the stabbing and Cole was charged with battery after police found visible injuries to Brants' head.
In fact, police say Brants called 911 shortly after the stabbing.
"We immediately received a phone call from a person claiming to be the other party. The one who was driving the vehicle and the one who was doing the stabbing. That was Mr. Brants," Gwinnett police Sgt. Jake Smith said.
But police didn't buy all of Brant's story.
"They eventually determined the stabbing wasn't in self-defense as Mr. Brants was implying basically in his story," Sgt. Smith said.
Cole hasn't been arrested yet because Gwinnett Police Department said he is recovering . Arrest warrants details Brants stabbing Cole repeatedly, injuring his arm, back and lung. However, Cole is expected to make a full recovery.
"He has been informed of the charges and he is just going to turn himself in when he is medically able to be booked into the jail," Smith said.
