BELLINGHAM — Police continued Monday to seek the man who fatally stabbed a 20-year-old Skagit County man in what investigators described as a chance encounter.
David Datskiy of Bow died Sunday afternoon after a friend drove him to St. Joseph’s Hospital.
Initial police reports indicating that an angry confrontation occurred before the stabbing appear to be inaccurate.
Witnesses told investigators that a clean-shaven, bald man in his 20s stabbed Datskiy while they spoke in the middle of a street about 1 p.m. Sunday, Bellingham police Lt. Steve Felmley said.
“We initially thought it was a kind of road-rage incident, but there’s nothing to substantiate that,” Felmley said. “There wasn’t any fighting, no escalation, no blows exchanged.”
Police Monday continued to investigate the stabbing, which occurred in Bellingham’s York neighborhood.
“We are following some leads that are helpful for us,” Felmley said.
Before the stabbing, Datskiy and a 20-year-old Mount Vernon man were driving to visit another friend when the Honda they rode in began to run rough, Felmley said.
Datskiy parked along James Street to let traffic go by because he worried that cars were backing up behind the Honda, Felmley said. The bald man was driving a late 1990s white Cadillac sedan with a female passenger inside and stopped his car in the middle of the street, police said. Datskiy’s friend told investigators that he and the victim noticed the Cadillac about half a block before stopping.
The bald man then exited his Cadillac, and Datskiy left the Honda to speak with him in the street, Datskiy’s friend told police, Felmley said. There was no shouting, pushing or shoving. At some point during the conversation, Datskiy was stabbed, Felmley said.
The bald man immediately returned to the Cadillac and drove from the scene, police said. He has a medium build and wore a blue button-up shirt and black pants. Datskiy’s friend drove the victim to the hospital, officers said.
Investigators ask anyone with information to call Bellingham police at 360-778-8804.
* Marta Murvosh can be reached at 360-416-2149 or .
