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The victim says he let a man go who tried to steal from him, but that the man later stabbed him.
By CARY DAVIS
© St. Petersburg Times, published November 2, 2001
NEW PORT RICHEY -- It was dark outside when John Filipietz locked up his auto repair shop on Dec. 26, 2000, and walked to his pickup truck. He glanced inside the truck and couldn't believe what he saw.
Sitting in the front seat, he said, was the same man who had just stolen his prized pool cue and a few fishing reels out of the truck. Earlier that night, after catching the man in the act, Filipietz had considered calling the police. But the thief was crying, and sympathy got the better of Filipietz. He said he forced the man to pour out his bottle of vodka and then let him go.
Now the man was back, sitting in the truck, and Filipietz was angry. Filipietz got in the car, started the motor and told the man he was taking him to get help. "But I was going to take him to the police station," Filipietz testified Thursday.
They never got there. The man stabbed him as they sat at a red light, Filipietz testified.
"I felt a tremendous thud on my chest," Filipietz, 42, told a jury Thursday. "I didn't know what happened. They I saw a big knife in his hand."
The man accused of stabbing Filipietz, 27-year-old John Lee Greer, is on trial this week in a New Port Richey courtroom. He is charged with attempted first-degree murder, armed burglary and carrying a concealed weapon.
The case is expected to go to the jury today. Greer faces life in prison if convicted.
Filipietz, the owner of Harry's Highway Garage on U.S. 19 in New Port Richey, has recovered from the attack. He spent a few days in the hospital but escaped serious injury because the knife struck his breast bone and missed vital organs.
It could have been much worse. After the first blow, the 5-foot-3 Greer raised the knife over his head, poised to strike again, Filipietz said.
"He said, "I'm going to kill you,' " Filipietz testified. But Filipietz, who is 6-feet-1, said he grabbed Greer's arm and wrestled the knife away.
Greer got out of the truck and ran away, Filipietz said. Filipietz managed to drive the short distance back to his business.
Later that night, Filipietz saw Greer again. Filipietz was on a gurney, about to be loaded into an ambulance, when New Port Richey police officers walked up with Greer. They had found Greer lying on his stomach, watching rescue workers tend to Filipietz, a New Port Richey officer testified.
Is this the man who stabbed you? police asked Filipietz.
Testifying Thursday, Filipietz said he knew instantly that police had the right man. But lying on the gurney last year, an angry Filipietz came up with a plan. He told the officers he needed a closer look.
"Bring him closer," Filipietz said he told police.
Bleeding from a chest wound, Filipietz started to climb off the gurney, he said. Police had to hold him back.
"I wanted to hit him," he said.