A Clark County Superior Court jury on Thursday acquitted a Washougal man accused of stabbing a neighbor during a dispute in August.
Rudolph F. Zehner, 60, was originally charged with third-degree assault stemming from an Aug. 19 stabbing call at his home. That charge was upgraded to second-degree assault a month after the incident.
Police responded to his apartment building at 329 20th St. that evening, when he called 911 to report he stabbed a neighbor, according to court records.
Zehner told officers he found his neighbor, Patrick Warmuth, lying on the sidewalk drunk. The two didn’t get along, he told police, adding when Warmuth got up, he became aggressive. That prompted Zehner to draw a folding knife from his pocket and warn Warmuth he would defend himself, according to court records.