A Canyon Country man is in jail Monday after a fight escalated and led to a July 19 stabbing.

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Omar “Swifty” Chaparro, 20, of Canyon Country, is being held at the Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff’s Station after he was arrested in the city of Bell on assault with a deadly weapon charges.

The crime was initially thought to be gang-related, then possibly a hate crime, Sheriff’s Station officials said initially. Chaparro is believed to be a local gang member.  

Now, the crime is being investigated as a verbal altercation that escalated, said Detective Jeff Burrow of the Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff’s Station’s COBRA team, on Monday.

Deputies from Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff’s Station’s Special Assignment Team tracked down Chaparro, who was believed to be “hiding out” at the 6000 block of Gifford Place in Bell, according to a statement from the Sheriff’s Station.

The deputies went to that location, conducted a surveillance of the home and while doing so, a man exited the house matching the description of the suspect.

Deputies detained the man, confirmed his identity and arrested him for the July 19 stabbing. Chaparro is being held in lieu of $50,000 bail.

“It’s just going to be more of a fight,” Burrow said. “We’re not really looking at it as gang-related or a hate crime. It was a verbal altercation that turned violent.”

Two friends, a male black adult and a male Hispanic adult, were confronted by Chaparro while walking down the 14800 Block of Jakes Way in Canyon Country, according to Sheriff’s Station officials.

Chaparro made several racial slurs towards the male black adult and challenged him to fight, the statement said.

As the suspect advanced towards the male black adult, his friend stepped in to protect him from the suspect.

Chaparro and the Hispanic friend allegedly began to fight, and Chaparro is accused of stabbing the victim once in the side during the altercation.

The suspect ran from the scene and escaped arrest at that time. The victim was treated at a local area hospital’s emergency room and released.

The station’s COBRA Team handles all juvenile and gang-related crimes.

No further details are available at this time.

Anyone with information about this incident is encouraged to contact the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department’s Homicide Bureau at (323) 890-5500. If you prefer to provide information anonymously, you may call “Crime Stoppers” by dialing (800) 222-TIPS (8477), or texting the letters TIPLA plus your tip to CRIMES (274637), or by using the website http://lacrimestoppers.org.

Do you have a news tip? Call us at (661) 298-1220, or drop us a line at community@hometownstation.com.

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